As I listened to Kristi Gordon of Global News report that there was “point six of a degree standing in the way of fog formation,” I was suddenly struck by the concept that prediction of fog could be that precise.

Really? Is it that certain that fog will form?

Apparently “fog forms when the difference between air temperature and dew point is less than 2.5 °C .” (Wikipedia) Of course, other factors such as presence of wind or changes in cloud cover affect fog development but it is still incredible that a substance as mysterious seeming as fog can be condensed (!) into a formula.

If only the successful treatment of mental illness was as predictable.

mage by Flickr user Eugenia Loli.

I have been reading posts from various people over this past week; friends are struggling with depression of all kinds and using social media to alert others to the prevalence of these conditions in order to start conversations and stop the stigma associated with having a mental illness. Such bravery, they exhibit. They make visible that which has long been shrouded and their eloquence on the topic enlightens me and strengthens me-I can identify with the commonly stated metaphor: there’s just no shaking myself out of this fog.

Perhaps that is why I found myself staring at the cloud forming over and over at the foot of Wedge Mountain the other day. Apparently, that magic equation of air temperature and dew point was playing out above a waterfall on Wedge, creating fog which rose as clouds into the otherwise blue sky. Anyone living in that particular area would have been enveloped in a cloak of grey….and this is where my analogy fails, or does it? A gust of wind or a change in temperature could blow the fog away, just as talking could ease the burden and opening up could reveal new avenues of treatment. Might this be the point six of a degree difference that makes a difference?