The Fog

After our little ice storm, a fog drifted in and settled over the city for the next few days. On Wednesday, I decided to put off Christmas shopping and go out to take pictures in the fog. All that fog would linger the next day, and by Thursday night, it was so thick you could barely see anything outside at all. Not really wanting to go to the mall anyways, I went back out and took more pictures.

I visited a few of the same spots both nights, and it's cool to see the difference that a day really can make. On Wednesday, I drove around downtown and ended up going back to a certain parking deck that provides some nice views. This is the view looking towards the Bank of America building, with its large Christmas tree display:


And then again on Thursday night:


On Wednesday night, a view of the Metropolitan National Bank building on the left, and the Regions Bank building on the right:


And on Thursday night:

It's a bit eerie how you can't even see the Regions building in the fog...

My first stop Thursday night was the Junction Bridge. The old railroad bridge turned pedestrian bridge is a reliable spot for night shots, and it looked great covered in fog. It was so thick that you could just barely see the lights at the end of the bridge.


I went onto the bridge, trying to get a shot of the bridge disappearing into the fog. I stopped and got this shot, looking towards what should be a view of the skyline:


Again, to compare, a similar shot from a few months ago:


This is when the night got interesting. I've had a run in with a crazy person before taking pictures of this bridge, and it had been awhile since I had another wacky encounter. That night, I had two (to be fair, one of them would be more "zany," but the second one was definitely crazy). I hadn't seen a single other person on the bridge, until a figure appeared out of the fog walking towards me. As he got closer, he yelled out "what a crazy night!" He walked up to me, and told me how his wife had thrown him out of the car and now he had to walk all the way back to their house in Levy (in North Little Rock, about 5 miles or so away). He said he would have taken a taxi, but it would have cost $25, and he only had $20. To prove it, he took out a wad of cash, and then asked if I had any money on me. My wallet is bare at the moment, so I couldn't help.

"Thanks anyways!" he said, and continued on his way. A few seconds later he called back and said, "hey, do you want a beer?" This got my attention so I turned around, as he pulled a can out of his jacket pocket. I declined his offer (it was Busch Lite, after all), and he said "that's good, I need something to keep me warm tonight!" He walked off, and I went to take more pictures.


As I took this, I heard the guy talking to someone below me. Then I saw him walking along, drinking his beer. I began to hear another person talking, but didn't see anyone else. Even though the beer guy had drifted off into the fog, I could still hear someone talking. I was standing next to the elevator that connects the two sections of the bridge, and was still there as the elevator rose up and deposited a woman who shuffled out, talking to herself the entire time.

She talked to herself as she walked by and saw me. I couldn't really understand what she was saying, but did hear her say "that motherf-----r better not be taking my picture." I wasn't pointing the camera at her or anything, in fact I was done taking pictures and had the camera around my neck. She walked on, talking to herself in a loud mumble.

I wanted to leave as well, but kept my distance. She went to take the other elevator down, so I waited a minute or so and then walked towards her. She was waiting for the elevator, so I walked really slow since I didn't think riding with her would have been a great idea. She finally got in as I got closer, but I took the stairs anyways, taking my time on every step to put more distance between us.

She left the elevator, and I heard her one-sided conversation start back up. I still couldn't really understand what she was saying, but heard "picture" and "motherf-----r" a few times so I assumed she was still talking about me. I walked even slower down the stairs, and finally saw her standing at the foot of the bridge, looking back at me.

I stayed as far as I could on the sidewalk from the crazy lady, but as I passed her I did try to give her a look that said, "I'm a nice guy, and haven't been taking pictures of you." She had been quiet as I approached, and didn't say anything to me as I walked by. But as soon as I passed her, her conversation with herself revved up again. She was now saying something about how "that motherf----r better run, thinking he can take my picture." This continued on for a bit as I walked to my car. I was glad that she didn't follow me, instead heading off in a different direction. Her crazy mumbling got lost in the fog.

I got into my car and headed off to my next destination - the parking deck where I got the pictures of the Bank of America building and the Metropolitan Bank building. Driving down Clinton Avenue by the River Market, I saw the crazy lady walking down the sidewalk. I hoped she didn't see me, since she would probably assume I was also stalking her along with taking her picture.

The rest of the night was free of crazies. Here is one more view from the parking deck towards the Bank of America building.


From there I went over the the state capitol building. It was really bizarre driving down Capitol Avenue and not actually see the capitol. It didn't appear until I was about two blocks away, its Christmas lights finally poking out of the fog.








My stomach reminded me that I hadn't had dinner yet, so from there I headed home. Luckily I haven't met any more crazy people since then.