Mazzaella splendens is one of those red seaweeds known for the looks it throws your way. Its iridescence isn’t a given, but when things fall into place, rainbow leaf, as it is sometimes known, lights up the low intertidal.
Cut off from the shore, I’m grateful for simple pleasures past.
Addendum: There couldn’t be a bigger mismatch between Mazzaella‘s beautiful blades and what’s going on in the real, human world. I was not able to finish this post until I dreamt:
There I was, in the stands at a packed Major League ballpark. A day game. “Curveball!” I exclaimed aloud, letting my my eyes rise to follow a sky-high pop up. When they drifted back down, I startled myself when I noticed, on my lap, Druehl and Clarkston’s Pacific Seaweeds. The incongruity was so jarring it woke me.