Living on the Central Coast not far from the beach means sudden, unexpected fog. Oddly enough, we have more fog in the summer than in the winter. Since I walk uphill to the market every day, or almost every day, I sometimes walk from dense fog into stars or sunlight. The temperature can vary fifteen or twenty degrees. I’m not the only one who carries a sweatshirt in my backpack. And, of course, it’s possible to walk from sunlight or stars into fog on the way home.

This was a fog so thick you could see veins of it moving in the light. Clouds within clouds. Chill within chill. Headlights of cars were visible like pinholes of light from blocks away, but dissolved into fields of glare as they approached. And silence. There is an eerie silence that comes with thick fogs. And also a sudden movement of wind where the fog disappears entirely. Fog is an odd sensation here. Especially at night.