Fog
I was driving when early morning fog on the F3 brought my progress to walking pace. I could see only twenty metres ahead. Many times fog has closed Sydney’s airport or having got off the ground in Sydney I found fog closed Canberra airport which meant I couldn’t get to important meetings.
Over seven years I had early morning meetings with former PM John Howard and some advisers, and frequently the public servants responsible for making sure everything went well for the meetings would insist I fly to Canberra the night before so that I would be present rather than run the risk of being delayed by fog. In return, I always made sure I was on a flight home by 4pm in case the settling fog kept me there a second night!
I think one of our most beautiful sights comes as a person drives from the North Shore down into the CBD and fog enshrouds the Harbour, with the Bridge and city buildings and Sydney Tower piercing through it. I know that means the ferry services are probably cancelled but the fog makes the early sunlight magic on the city.
In London, of course, the fog used to be dirty from all of the coal pollutants and particles in the air. These “pea soupers” are now a thing of the past since the wood and coal fires have been banned. But it is still easy to imagine Sherlock Holmes in cape and deer stalker coming out of some dark side street on his way to solving another mysterious crime. I purchased a coat there one time branded “London Fog” designed to keep out the damp. Today that brand produces a marvelous range of men’s attire.
Like all watercolourists, I love the challenge of painting various skies and atmospheric conditions in my landscapes. Fog is a challenge to any artist, and the sight of a fog over the Hawkesbury River from my train at 6:30am recently, with the moored boats reflected in the water and their masts piercing above the fog on the water, was a challenge that brings the best out in the eye for colour.
After much experimenting, I found how to paint fog in moonlight and in the rising sun. To save others from the trouble let me mention the colours I used: Ultramarine Blue, Payne’s Grey, Alizarin crimson, and Rose madder, in a series of washes one over the other with each wash completely dry before another is faintly applied, then Quinacridone gold and Cobalt blue. The first four colours are easily and cheaply obtained. The Chinese-made Mont Marte colour, bought as a set of twelve for $6, works out at only 50c per 12 ml tube. The other two are very difficult to mix and expensive to buy. Windsor and Newton Cobalt Blue is about $15 for a 14ml tube and Quinacridone gold is $36 for a 14ml tube.
The Quinacridone colours (golden yellow, reddish orange, coral, magenta and a dark reddish violet with tones of sienna) were only developed by scientists in the mid-1950’s at DuPont and made available to artists twenty years later. They are impossible to replicate on a palette. They are light fast and marvelous for a very light glaze over work, hence sunlight in fog. The other colours mixed give the body to the fog.
A year ago, I was on the far East coast of Canada. The fishing banks are one of the foggiest areas of the world. The fog off Newfoundland is the thickest and most frequent of any place on earth. For this is the meeting place of the cold Labrador Current from the north and the much warmer Gulf Stream from the south. Newfoundland and Labrador, both have over 200 foggy days per year.
Fog is cloud on the ground. Part of a cloud may be in the air above the ground while the rest is fog on the ground. Fog may reduce visibility to only metres. Fog begins to form when water vapour (a colorless gas) condenses into tiny liquid water droplets in the air, making the water suspended in the atmosphere visible in the form of fog.
Fog normally occurs at a relative humidity near 100%. A reading of 100% relative humidity means that the air can hold no additional moisture; the air will become supersaturated if additional moisture is added, and it rains.
Fog reduces visibility and thus contributes to accidents, particularly with modes of transportation. Ships, trains, cars and planes cannot see each other and collide. Although most sea vessels can penetrate fog using radar, road vehicles have to travel slowly and use low-beam headlights. In aviation, fog normally prevents aircraft from taking off or landing at airports.
The Managememt Of The Economy. Budgeting in tough financial times is extremely difficult. “Not to beat around the bush, but the budgeting process at most companies has to be the most ineffective practice in management,” says Jack Welch, the former boss of GE, in his book “Winning”, which I have on my shelves.
When I consider the sudden layoffs of hundreds of staff in the NSW health system, the announcements of a new Metro rail system with no money to even start the program, the plans to privatize parts of the Prison system, the plans to sell NSW Lotteries, the inability to fund our transport systems, educational and police conflicts over salaries and conditions, I realize that the NSW State Government is operating in an economic fog.
When I was in East Canada at one of the many lighthouses built near the fog banks, I heard that years ago two Indians who had been watching a lighthouse being built attended the opening day. It was all set up with the lights and the bell and the horn; and on cue the fog came in. One Indian said to the other, “Light shine, bell ring, horn blow, but fog come in just the same.”
The Government has all the lights shining, and bells ringing, and horns blowing, but we’ve never had more fog. They have two options: put on the hazard lights and proceed with extreme caution, or stop altogether and allow someone else to lead the way when the path ahead becomes clear.
Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.