The Creature From O Dock

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The internets never fail to amaze.

Something goes floating by our boat, I post a photo of it, and from the far reaches of cyberspace - well, OK, from New Jersey - comes Phylum, Order, Genus, and Species.

At first, I thought the watery visitor in my last post might look like this if plucked from the depths:

But no common Jacko was this lantern. Maybe 'Jacque' would be closer. Thanks to Baydog, whose expertise is in things culinary, I now know that the beast was a 'musquée de provence':

I should have known. Only the French could have designed a pumpkin this, uh, unique. To my eyes, it is the Citroen 2CV of the vegetable world. Apparently, the deep lobes are its distinguishing feature and the 10-lobe symmetry is common, too. What one was doing in the Berkeley marina at this time of year, I have no idea. April is the cruellest month, mixing memory and desire, stirring old pumpkins with spring rain.

And I thought Baydog was busting my chops when he sent along a photo of this jellyfish, too, having never seen such a creature before, but apparently these 'Blue Buttons' are common to Florida and other gulf states.

 I guess it's possible that both the musquée de provence and the blue button are disguises assumed by wily sea monsters to fool us. You can never be too careful around sea monsters.

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