Monday, August 20, 2018

Trying To Be Purple / Intentado De Ser Púrpura

La versión español está después de la primera foto.

A GREEN FLAG on the beach means it's safe to swim. A yellow flag means there are dangers and you should use caution. A red flag means swimming is prohibited. Added to those, is our new white flag with blue outline drawings of jellyfish. If there are random jellyfish sighted, the jellyfish flag is flown along with the yellow warning flag. If the sea is teeming with jellyfish, the red flag flies solo.

Yesterday was a red flag day. The surf was high and confused, the riptide was dangerous, and there were lots of jellyfish. The type of jellyfish seen was pelagia noctiluca (commonly known as a mauve stinger). And that made me think of something artist James Whistler said. "Mauve is just pink trying to be purple."

A MAUVE STINGER TRYING TO BE PURPLE IN A PINK NET ON A SAND BACKGROUND.
UNA AGUIJÓN MALVA INTENTADO DE SER PÚRPURA EN UNA CADENA ROSA SOBRE UN FONDO DE ARENA.

UNA BANDERA VERDE en la playa significa que es seguro nadar. Una bandera amarilla significa que hay peligros y debes tener precaución. Una bandera roja significa que la natación está prohibida. Además de eso, está nuestra nueva bandera blanca con dibujos de azul de medusas. Si hay avistamientos de medusas al azar, la bandera de medusas se lleva junto con la bandera amarilla de advertencia. Si el mar está lleno de medusas, la bandera roja vuela solo.

Ayer fue un día de bandera roja. El oleaje era alto y confuso, la marea era peligrosa, y había muchas medusas. El tipo de medusa visto fue pelagia noctiluca (comúnmente conocido como un aguijón malva). Y eso me hizo pensar en algo que dijo el artista James Whistler. "Malva solo es rosa tratando de ser púrpura".


CLOSED FOR THE DAY.
CERRADO POR EL DÍA.
LOOKING EAST.
MIRANDO AL ESTE.
LIFEGUARD TOLD ME CURRENTS WERE SAFE IN THAT AREA. 'BUT WHAT ABOUT THE JELLYFISH?' I ASKED MYSELF AS I WALKED AWAY.
EL SOCORRISTA ME DIJO QUE LAS CORRIENTES ESTABAN A SALVO EN ESE ÁREA. PERO, ¿QUÉ PASA CON LAS MEDUSAS?' ME PREGUNTÉ DESPUÉS.
THEY LOOKED AT JELLYFISH WHILE I LOOKED AT PLUMBER'S CRACK.
MIRARON A LAS MEDUSAS MIENTRAS YO MIRABA A LA HUCHA.


PART OF MY SIZE 11 FOOT FOR COMPARISON.
PARTE DE MI TAMAÑO 46 PIES PARA LA COMPARACIÓN.
A SLIGHTLY LARGER ONE.
OTRA UN POCO MÁS GRANDE.

29 comments:

  1. It looks like a great day for a walk,

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    Replies
    1. Travel:
      I really enjoyed it. Today was a green flag day. The first in a few days.

      Delete
  2. Yuck! Both to the jellyfish and the plumbers crack.

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    Replies
    1. Debra:
      Oh, but it was such a neat plumber's crack!

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Bob:
      The jellyfish on the sand looked beautiful to me. In the net, eh. In the water. blech!

      Delete
  4. They are small little buggers! But give a BIG sting I bet!
    That ocean is pretty rough. A good day to stay on shore and just watch.

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    1. Jim:
      I'm told it's like a bee sting. And, since I'm allergic to bees, I figure I'll keep my distance form jellyfish!

      Delete
  5. That first one looks like a sickly strawberry. Just say no to crack! What if mauve was purple trying to be pink? Did ol' Whistler ever think of that, hmm? Jellyfish are actually kind of pretty when viewed from a safe distance, like in a photo.

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    1. Deedles:
      Now why would any color WANT to be pink?!? Oh, well, I know a lot of people who would argue with me. Never mind. I agree with you about the jellyfish. Even lying neatly on the sand, they looked beautiful. Not in the water though and especially not when the surf washing them in to circle my feet!

      Delete
    2. Personally, I loathe pink, but I wouldn't judge purple's choices :) Anyway, I watched Randy Rainbow's new video on Omarosa. He is gorgeous in his pink cowboy get up.

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    3. Deedles:
      I finally watched the latest Randy Rainbow video yesterday. I adore him and his pink cowboy get-up.

      Delete
  6. Yikes! Hopefully that will all be gone when we get there!

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    1. KMoff:
      Today was a green flag day. Getting ready for your return. Oh how we miss you!

      Delete
  7. Yep, I would be pretty far back in the sand.

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    1. Adam:
      It amazes me how many people ignore the warnings.

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  8. I think those jellyfish are gorgeous. I had never heard the quote about mauve is just pink trying to be purple. I really like that. Of course Deedles has point that perhaps mauve is just purple wanting to be pink. Perspective is everything - especially when viewing plumber's crack.

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    1. Wilma:
      Yep, perspective is everything. And Deedles is always very clever... and astute.

      Delete
  9. Oh My Goodness, what a beautiful Jellyfish (Your first photo with your foot for comparison ) I looked at it for a long time trying to understand.
    When I was younger I used to body surf at Huntington Beach I always carried "Aldofs (sp?) Meat Tenderizer, don't even know if it is still made, or vinegar when you got stung just sprinkle that on an it felt better.

    cheers, parsnip and badger

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    Replies
    1. Parsnip:
      I remember Adolf's although it was never ever used in our house. Vinegar is commonly used here, but many of the chiringuitos keep the actual pharmacy stuff on hand just in case. I won't chance it. I'd probably be one of those airlifted to the hospital (bee-sting allergy).

      Delete
  10. @parsnip - https://www.mccormick.com/lawrys/flavors/adolphs/adolphs-original-meat-tenderizer

    the med is VERY rough; no wonder the red flag was flying! such a pretty blue though. and thanks for including your tootsies for contrast against the jellyfish; interesting creature!

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    1. anne marie:
      Maybe I should have washed the sand off my tootsies first. The sea can be very misleading here. Not always super high surf but extremely inconsistent. The riptide surprises people.

      Delete
  11. Imagine that the famous Dutch painter painted "People Looking at Jellyfish." You could then say, with confidence, "There's a crack in your Vermeer."

    Sorry, I haven't had my coffee yet.

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    Replies
    1. Walt the Fourth:
      I'm sitting here chuckling at your exceptional wit. Very clever. (Then again, I haven't had MY coffee yet, either.)

      Delete
    2. Walt the Fourth:
      Having coffee. Still chuckling.

      Delete
  12. Eww. (So much for clever and witty.)

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  13. We have a goodly number of jelly fish on the beaches on the North Shore of the Island. There have been warnings out though apparently there have been no reports of serious stings. The Parks department says to simply rub wet sand on the sting to get the barbs out. Don't think I'll test that theory on purpose.

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    Replies
    1. Willym:
      We've had a lot of jellyfish this summer. The flag flew yesterday and will probably be flying again today. Whatever kind of jellyfish you have there, wet sand wouldn't do the trick here. Vinegar is recommended and for some people that works just fine. Others end up at the hospital.

      Delete

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