The Proverbial Grazing of the Seaweed

Before I go on, yes, kelp is a vegetable. Which is why this is such a once in a lifetime event. I have no idea how often this happens, but I saw it... once.

It was July 7, 1997, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was out on the beach, going for a late night stroll with my friend Peter. We had a flashlight with us to see what was going on around us, seeing as how the moonlight was obscured by cloudcover. We're chatting about this, that, and everything else as we mosey along. You know, we talk about everything two 12 year olds do talk about: video games, sports, school, aspirations, how much our parents suck, movies, tv, and how girls aren't looking so icky anymore. Anyway, we're going along when Pete first makes the observation that there's a lot of crap being washed in tonight. Mostly seaweed, but we're also getting more dead fish, jellyfish, and debris then normal. I mean, a LOT more than normal. I know occasionally a lot of jellfish will die and get washed in after a storm and things like that, but it's usually just jellyfish getting washed ashore, not an exceptional amount of jellyfish in conjunction with other oceanic flora and fauna. We both thought this just wasn't quite right, but we just assumed it was because of our lack of knowledge of ocean ecosystems (we didn't actually say that, I think the literal words were "This doesn't seem right, but I don't know shit about the ocean.") But we proceeded on, avoiding the jellyfish and dead fish because they just feel messed up when you step on them with your bare feet. But we just rambled on over the seaweed, because... well, it's just seaweed. If I knew then what I know now I not only wouldn't have stepped on it, I would have gone the fuck back inside and never came out again.

To Be Continued...