I awoke several minutes before my alarm. Opening my eyes, I could see the faintest evidence of morning light making its way around the blinds covering my lone window. Listening, I could hear the distant squawking of crows, ebbing and flowing as different flocks repositioned themselves in the trees. I got right up at 6:30 and felt the satisfying tingle of overcoming the urge to snooze. I may be a morning person, but that doesn’t mean I move at anything other than a snail’s pace before 8 a.m., so I slowly dressed for my outing. With my head still hazy, I stepped outside to find that the world outside was also covered in fog.
I made my way north, walking along South Main Street towards the trailhead. I could now see the flocks of squawking crows as they swooped past and landed on a towering elm, its dendritic branches standing as a stark silhouette against the dark, blue-gray sky. But it wasn’t difficult to be reminded of the fact that I wasn’t in the forest quite yet. A low rumble accompanied bright headlights as a septic truck approached and drowned out the hollow sound of my footsteps on the concrete sidewalk. The harsh, artificial light of the many lamps lighting my way was thankfully softened by the ethereal haze of thick fog.
I finally made it to the top of the hill. I looked over to the east where the usual view of rolling hills in a manicured golf course was shrouded by a dense wall of fog. Stepping onto the Class of ’97 trail, my hollow footsteps were replaced by the crunch of leaves, the grinding of gravel, and the squish of January mud. I walked along, looking at the stand of trees that surrounded me. I stepped off to sit on a mossy rock just as 7:21 brought the official start to the day. It was a sunrise I couldn’t see, but looking at the canopy, the silhouettes of branches covered a brighter gray sky than before.
I continued along the trail until I emerged from the forest and found myself in the Ridgeline parking lot. My footsteps became hollow again and I could see swooping crows. The lamps were now turned off, the sky was bright, and the hazy fog had thinned not only on the land, but in my head, too.