Stench of Tides

So I leave Miami, stopping at my aunt’s house on the way for Independence Day dinner, and come home to discover that the air reeks like a dead French whore. Red tide is upon us, a fact from which I had been mercifully spared for the last few days. If you do not know what a Red Tide (or Harmful Algal Bloom, which is now the preferred term for the phenomenon) is, you either don’t live on our beloved Florida coast or were out getting baked during your high school science class. Anyway, those nasty little dinoflagellates (specifically Karenia brevis) have worked their toxic action and killed a lot of fish, who have in turn washed up on the nearby shores to rot in the sun. Fish stink combined with the gases released from the dinoflagellates (isn't that just an awesome word?) have made breathing our air a hazard. Really. On the plus side, Tropical Storm Dennis will probably sweep all of that debris away as it scrapes along the western edge of our state in a few days. Ah, nature.