With surf and sun
It’s lots of fun
To swim at Wallis Sands
Wield plastic tools,
Dig sandy pools
In which to wash your hands
Where you can share
Your picnic fare
With seagulls, if you wish
And now, the place
Where you may face
A giant jellyfish!
A sunny day
The children play
With sunscreen on their faces
With playful dunks
And sand in trunks
And other gritty places
A sudden sting,
A hurtful thing—
The children scream with pain
The swimmers rue
The blob of goo
They call the Lion’s Mane
It’s not often that the coast of New Hampshire makes international news–frankly, there’s not all that much coast there (which does not stop the state from charging two bucks for the privilege of driving the 17 miles from MA to ME–effectively holding Maine hostage from the contiguous US). But when a giant (ok, a fairly small individual for its species) tentacled menace attacks and injures (ok, technically it was dead, and fell apart when the lifeguard tried to collect it with a pitchfork, having never heard the phrase “nailing jello to the wall”) 150 beach-goers, somebody is going to notice.
It is a Lion’s Mane Jellyfish, not normally seen so far south, nor in shallow water. I predict that lifeguards will be given a new policy: for jellyfish, use a fishnet, not a pitchfork.
Really? A pitchfork? lol
I think that was my favorite part, Mike Mike. Dude was probably thinking "what could possibly go wrong? It'll be like spearing a marshmallow for s'mores!"
Same dude also keeps a colander on hand in case his boat needs bailing.On an unrelated note: I've received more compliments on my DC t-shirt than any article of clothing I've worn for quite some time. Love ya, watery bard!
Gale!!!You bought a T-shirt?!?!? It has been so long, I haven't even checked the site in months!I'll make a deal–send me a pic of you wearing it, and I'll run it with an ad for your next gig! By far, the single biggest market for my blog is California, and in particular the SF area, so you might even get a new fan or two to show up!
You got it! Just as soon as I get the laundry done…. I'm singin' in Yountville July 29 and Aug 19. Sorry I dropped the ball on the Louisiana song, but I see someone else ran with it and did a fine job. Just got a first hand report from a friend who works on research ships for USF. Pretty grim, traumatic shit. Why do we think that just because a resource is there, we HAVE to extract it? I mean, babies are an excellent source of protein, but for some reason we don't (most of us) feel compelled to eat them….
Anyone who has read Sherlock Holmes will know the "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane": (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Lion's_Mane