"It's Always Something--if it ain't one thing, it's another."

When my winter escape from Minnesota looked like it would actually happen, I had a few concerns.

I immediately felt guilty about getting out. It kind of felt like cheating.

But my feelings soon turned from guilt to gloating. One pretty snow and I'm outta here.

I worried mostly about getting there; three days in the car with my dog, leaving the rest of my family "home alone", freak snowstorms/dangerous roads, and a little ways down the list, this blog.

How would I keep this regular post relevant to Minnesota while writing from a somewhat warm sunny square in Savannah GA?

Stay tuned to the end and you'll see.

I frequently write about wildlife encounters around Minnetonka and Wayzata. Life is wild in Savannah but not usually of the critter kind. But a few miles down the road toward the islands you'll find sea turtles, big birds and dolphins among other things.

And then I catch the words "deadly jellyfish" on the news. Surely not those glassy globs I dodge between the surf and sand. No it turns out that there has been a "bloom" of venomous Portuguese Man O' War jellyfish on the beaches of Tybee Island where I walk.

Well, in the words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, "It's always something, if it ain't one thing, it's another".

Google image them and you'll see a collection of photos, beautiful shimmering blue forms with iridescent streamers along with swim suited figures sporting red ribbon-like welts over their bodies. They're the lucky ones. They're still standing and not in the emergency room suffering shock or even worse, fatal reactions.

This particular jellyfish floats on the water's surface, the crested shape buffeted by the breezes sending large groups of them willy-nilly with the currents. When this occurs, hundreds can make landfall on your favorite beach. With their distinctive color they're easy to see and hopefully avoid. The problem is the delicate tentacles can detach and be hard to see. After the jellyfish is dead, the nematocysts can still fire and sting an unsuspecting person. Even dried up jellyfish can be rehydrated with the tide and still sting. Yikes.

Fascinating stuff, huh?

Meanwhile check out JellyWatch for interesting jellyfish facts and records of recent sightings around the world.