Beached jellyfish

I really was supposed to stay home all day and work around the house. Perhaps I'd get in a late-afternoon bike ride; perhaps I'd just split wood, which I did. But when I got ready to start the station-wagon—the vehicle we use as a truck—to haul the harvest, I discovered that the car battery had died. I took this as an omen... and as a blessing. Go to the beach. See if the butterflies are moving. Enjoy what might be the last of the warm, summer-like weather. I was even granted a parking place, along with, as I hiked along the warm sand, numerous butterfly sightings: Monarchs, American Ladies, a single Common Buckeye, all of which are in the process of heading south. This poor invertebrate, however, won't be joining in the journey to warmer climes. For who knows what reason, this jellyfish stayed too long in shallow waters, and when the tide changed, the critter was stranded, most likely fated to evaporate. If I had a shovel handy, I might have been able to put it back in the water. I didn't, so all I could do was record its final moments.