Last week brought the January thaw that the weathermen promised but it wasn’t wash your car in the driveway weather. Though temperatures reached the 40s for a day or two and snow was melting, the sun was hardly seen. Instead the skies were gray and thick fog occasionally enveloped everything. One day I decided to drive up and out of the deep bowl that is Keene, New Hampshire. I was hoping that I’d get above the mist and see some sun but instead it got even thicker as the elevation changed so I could barely see the road by the time I reached the top of the hill. There was no escaping it.
This was taken at lunch time one day. It felt more like late afternoon. The sun tried hard each day but couldn’t burn through the dense fog.
The ice is dangerously thin this year. As you can see by all of the footprints, people aren’t paying attention.
The geese aren’t worried about a little thin ice. Geese that come and land on this part of the river are extremely wary for some reason, and fly off at even the hint of someone nearby. I was able to get two quick shots before they took off. Sorry this one is fuzzy-I was at the limit of my zoom capabilities.
I know that there is a large mountain here somewhere because I’ve climbed it.
The foggy trail was empty of even sound-not a leaf rustle or bird song was heard. And it was wet-so much so that I was afraid my cameras might get wet, so I turned back.
Everything was dripping in the heavy fog.
The mosses were loving it.
This orange witch’s butter (Tremella mesenterica ) was frozen solid just a while ago, but the warmth and rain plumped it right back up again. It feels and jiggles just like Jell-O.
This is what black witch’s butter looks like when it hasn’t rained for a while.
And this is what black witch’s butter (Exidia glandulosa) looks like when it has had plenty of moisture. Both of these examples were on the same alder shrub, but taken at different times.
Bracket fungi don’t seem to mind any weather unless it is hot sunshine.
The sun finally came out as always, the temperature shot up to 60 degrees, and the sky was blue again. For a day. Those clouds in the lower half of the picture are called mare’s tails and they usually signal that a storm is brewing. It got murky again the next day and snowed two days later. My color finding software sees mostly Dodger blue (as in the L.A. Dodgers baseball team) in this sky, but also sees dark teal blue, cornflower blue, steel blue and light sky blue. Imagine all of that in a simple blue sky!
It is the memory that enables a person to gather roses in January ~Anonymous
Thanks for coming by.
I do enjoy the fog, except when driving…and absolutely love that trail photo…wonderful, Allen.
Thanks Scott.
Fog has such a transporting, quieting quality, turning landscapes into other places, making me forget where I am sometimes … Nice pictures! The snow just started here in southeastern PA.
Thanks Scott. Fog has all that you say it does and I like an occasional foggy day. But not everyday. We are getting snow now but it’s not supposed to really amount to much.
Nice post, Allen. I didn’t realize that there was such a thing as black witch’s butter.
Thanks! Black witch’s butter is kind of hard to see. It grows mostly on hardwoods in the winter-about this time of year is perfect here and I look for it on oaks and sometimes see it on alder.As you can see in the photo, it doesn’t have the same shape as other witch’s butters.
Witches Butter? What a marvellous name. I am in awe of your fungi knowledge. I just about know a bracket fungus when I see one. Dave
Witch’s butter is very common-you have a lot of it in the U.K. Nobody seems to be able to agree on where the name comes from but it always has something to do with a witch casting a spell. In reality it’s just a fungus that grows on the mycelium of another fungus.
That is really a lot of variety in weather. We have had some much like that here in the valleys (although not as warm), but I drove past a lake at 4000 feet yesterday and it was frozen hard and there were quite a few folks ice fishing on it.
As somebody once said “If you don’t like the weather in New England just wait a few minutes and it will change.” Our ice seems to keep freezing and thawing but never stays frozen long enough to gain any thickness.
Really lovely captures of a wet, foggy day.
We’ve seen plenty of those here!
Thoroughly enjoyed your pictures. Such a variety in subject matter.
Thank you!
Beautiful photos.
Thanks!
Sun, need the sun, blue sky, green, something colorful. Fog is dreary and depressing (and wet). But the moss and fungi love it, so that’s a plus. Your macro shots are quite nice.
Thanks Sue. I like foggy days but not every day-then it does get a little depressing. I think we had 4 or 5 in a row. One would have been enough for me at this time of year. I’m happy that it’s still light enough to see without a flashlight at 5:15 now!
Beautiful pictures Allen, I think the misty ones are as nice as the blue sky pics. I, too, like to walk when it is drizzly. It is usually more peaceful, but I don’t like it when the wind blows hard, that gets scary especially in the woods.
We have no snow left on the ground and it is 41 degrees but tomorrow, teens for a high and 3 to 6 inches of snow. We get lake effect snow being just a few miles from the shores of Lake Michigan.
Time to fill the garage with firewood.
Thanks Chris. I like foggy days too, but not quite as wet as that one was. They say that we’ll see a temperature plunge tomorrow too. I wish I still had a wood stove!
That’s where I go wrong. I love walking in the fog (some would say that I’m always in a fog) and never think of what it could do to my camera equipment. Then, I can blog about the bad photos I get while fogged in and my camera dripping wet.
Very interesting photos! As far as the weather, hold onto your hats, the cold is headed your way.
I think this fog would have turned you back, because it was close to a drizzle. My coat, hair, everything got wet so I was really getting nervous about the cameras. I’ve heard that next week is supposed to be in the low 20s all week-cold!
Drizzle? Turn back? Not me! If the wildlife is outdoors, I’m outdoors, and since they have nowhere else to go, I’m out there with them. Sunday’s forecast is for highs in the teens with a 30 MPH wind and snow, and I’ll be out there for my daily walk.
When I got home I put a couple zip lock bags in my pack for next time. I think you’ll probably have Sunday all to yourself! You just reminded me to get some kind of face protection-yesterday was flesh freezing bitter.
I was so glad it snowed again. The thaw nearly took out all the snow in my yard, and it’s very nice to have some back there again.
The last couple of winters sure aren’t what they used to be. Just three years ago I had snowbanks over my head in the yard here.
That was my most favorite winter. IIRC, it was the second snowiest winter on record for Concord with something close to 10 feet of snow.
I remember it well-I had to shovel the roof almost every other day through the entire month of January!
Wonderful shots!!!
Thank you Rexlin. I’m glad you liked them.