Radnor Lake on a Foggy Morning

Radnor Lake on a Foggy Morning

Radnor Lake when the fog is sitting on the water is a different park. The surface disappears. Herons materialize out of nothing. The boardwalk over the reeds feels like walking into a painting that hasn't decided what it's a painting of yet.

The loop trail is the same 2.5 miles as always, but in fog the forest closes in tighter. Sound carries differently — a woodpecker tapping somewhere invisible, a fish breaking the surface, the distant splash of a turtle. The deer appear closer, less cautious, as if the fog gives everyone permission to relax the normal distances.

Dawn in fog. That's the version. The parking lot on Otter Creek Road is nearly empty. Bring your thermos. Walk slowly enough that the day finds you, not the other way around.