Heard in the fog
Back in the day I would have had to make a choice. Do I call a bus or not. Outside we had what may have been fog or haze. I can no longer tell the difference between the two but generally fog is wet. What I did notice was that the big boat that goes by down below, had to let the world know that there was fog or something with its horn. Every 90 seconds a big blast of a horn. I imagine that for someone paddling a small boat, this would be a real wake up call. In my case I was simply laying out on the deck glad the sun was not too warm. I do notice things like the foghorn or fog siren because it is not a common thing around here. We can go months with no idea that a boat has even passed except for the rumbling and vibration in the floor. I live less than a kilometre from open water and sound carries well. I would love to be on that ship, because that’s what captains call their boats, but that will have to wait for another day. Once again, when I was younger I could have found myself in the fog for days at a time. I lived on a much smaller island for a year and when the fog was too thick we stayed inside. We also had a fog alarm. I think they match them to the light houses when they can. Unlike a lighthouse the foghorn does not have its own character. Just a loud noise at regular intervals letting the world know that outside there is weather. I mean, fog does qualify as weather in this part of the world. When you have enough wind the fog just moves right on by. Although I have seen times when the wind blew hard and the fog stayed there for days. A lot more fog than here. That same ship goes by here pretty much every day and about the same time. The transit takes place in a matter of seconds and you can almost set your clock to it. Very punctual these marine types. I was thinking back to the number of different ships that I have seen on that same route over half a century. I guess that every time a boat or ship gets to be too small for the job, the government buys a new one. Sort of explains our national debt. And knowing how the government thinks they probably do that with airplanes and buses and other transportation vehicles. Even trains. Some ads on TV recently were talking about the new train cars that they purchased.
