Tule Fog

Years ago, when Numenius and I took a haiku class with Maria Melendez, she read us a poem she had written. I can’t remember the first line exactly but it went something like this:

Out-of-towners ask,
What the heck is a tule?
Fog caught on thousands.

In those days tule fog (a tule is a species of rush found in the winter wetlands of the Central Valley, much used by the original human inhabitants of this area, especially for baskets) was a regular occurrence. It would rain, there would be two or three mornings of thick fog, and then it would get sunny again until the next storm. Nowadays tule fog is rare, the result of a changing climate.

We did get a good rainy day yesterday, and we got a good thick tule fog this morning, and I decided to walk over to the Arboretum. By the time I got there the sun had burned off the fog, though it was still pretty drippy. I came across a small flock of turkeys across from the Mondavi Center. I am determined never to leave the house without something to write or draw on (and with), so I made a quick sketch of these guys, posted at right.