THE FOGGY PADDLER

It is more common to meet friendly people on the paddleboard than on a subway.

If you stand up in the subway car and wave at strangers, do they wave back?

When I wave to people on my paddleboard, 90% of the time they wave back. And sometimes they give you the amazing pictures they just took of you. That happened one foggy morning.

For his privacy, we'll give him the name Roger. We met as I was about the glide under a bridge. But I waved first, and he waved back.

Then I realized he had been taking pictures of me.

The workout that morning had started off very unusual. There was a medium fog at my house. And at my launching point. The flat light was so prevalent I could not tell the difference between sky and water. It was all one vertical wall of light gray fog. I realized that lack of horizon might make it really hard to keep my balance on the paddleboard. I launched anyway.

Our town is not known for fog. So I assumed it would burn off shortly. When I launched the paddleboard, it was just after sunrise. So the air had a gentle breeze from the fog while the water was barely rippled. I could barely make out the house alongside the shore of my launching point.

I slid onto the board and stood up; gauging whether I could keep my balance despite the lack of a horizon. The barely visible house to my right was the only point of reference. "Oh well, just keep the shoreline in sight and I should be okay." I thought.

The first 30 minutes was like a dream. The calm quiet water gently gurgled past my board. There was no other sensation of moving forward. Despite dipping my paddle in every several seconds, there was no sensation of movement. One barely visible house on my right would slowly fade away as another would fade into view. But too slowly to give me any sense of speed or movement.

Finally there was a slight brightening of the air around me as the morning sun starting lifting up to the treetops. With that came the distinct difference between water, land and sky. But the fog did not lift. Instead, hanging just at tree top while allowing me to more clearly see ahead and to the shoreline. The sky was not above me but a light grey blanket that hoved gently above as far as my eye could see. A gentle blanket that so softened the sun that there were no shadows, just a calm light.

For an hour I made my way along the shoreline then up a canal. In my area, these canals are lined with recreational docks in front of waterfront homes. Large trees consistently line the canals. Making the paddle boarding experience similar to walking through the forest.

The canal that morning was about a mile long. What made it magical was the two bridges. In the flat foggy light, the bridges were reflected perfectly in the water. The fog backdropped them. The glass calm water below reflected them. The illusion of the second bridge created a circle from the arch of the bridge.

It was a magical experience to stop the board then just stand there floating and gazing upon this optical illusion.

After soaking in the experience, I turned around and headed back out of the canal. Not too far away from that bridge I came upon another bridge. The fog was still hanging just above the treetops. The flat light continued to create visual landscapes I had never seen here before.

That was when I happened upon Roger.

He had been taking pictures on his phone as I was coming down the canal. He was quick to engage in conversation about how visually interesting the morning was. Then we talked briefly about why someone would be paddleboarding on a foggy morning. As our conversation wound down, he kindly agreed to my request for a copy of the photos he took.

I paddled away thinking how refreshing it was to cross paths with a good human being. That there were still quality people in our country that were kind and generous.

Many thanks to you Roger for stopping that morning for a conversation with a stranger. Then sharing your photos.

All that because when I wave to people on my paddleboard, they wave back.

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