Some foggy days in London Town this week made me think back on the Frisco fogs I have known over the years. The traditional English pea-souper is a different beast to the California variety. The fogs of Blighty are the cold damp fogs of a cold climate whereas the fogs of the Bay Area drift in from the Pacific at the height of summer when the landscape is parched and arid. They are indeed chilly and moist but they burn off during the course of the day.
 When I was in SF over the summer I did a day hike with a couple of pals along some of the trails on the heights and slopes of the magisterial Mount Tamalpais which looms over the Bay. As the first photograph shows fog banks rolled over the yellowed grasses as we made our way. The ground was dry, too dry by now to sustain much in the way of wildflowers (of which there are many in spring). But a few persist.
 We came upon a stand of the pink flowered Tiburon Buckwheat (Erigonium luteolum var. caninum), endemic to this part of California but rare. Touching one of the flowers it was sopping wet like a sponge. I imagine it survives the months of drought by literally sucking moisture out of the air.