March 8, 2026

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

With the sudden change from frigid temperatures and several feet of accumulated snow in this part of the Northeast – a winter not seen in years though once common – we are heading for a blast of pre-spring sun with the mercury hitting the 70s. Nature is feeling its oats.

Its fickleness has given us a blanket of morning fog, which is not comforting while driving. But take a walk and you are reminded of the World War II film, 1940’s “Waterloo Bridge.” The fog may be a metaphor for the unclear future of the romantic couple, Vivian Leigh and Robert Taylor and also the security of what is just a moment. Nature, call it Mother Nature in this instance, is wrapping her arms around a love story so fitting for couples as the war cannons gather.

In another film, the 1945 “Brief Encounter,” steam from trains doubles for fog in a relationship also not to develop beyond the temporary cloud that envelops Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson.

In the ordinary that is not filmdom, a walk in the fog can isolate you from all that bothers. It’s as if your space is inviolable. There is security in that. Sometimes there is too much of the world to see, and you need to take your space for a solitary walk.

And fog is artistic, painting both the colorful and the dreary. Uplifting it can be.

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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