Dead whale on the beach in Northern California?

Yes, that's what my girlfriend tells me. I've not even thought about it since she texted me, trying to persuade me to take a road trip down to see it tomorrow. I'd love to, under normal circumstances.

Unfortunately, I'm sick. A genuine, deep-in-the-lungs congested cough which yesterday was bringing up a few small blood clots. Only a few, and they vanished after a few rounds of coughing. A little bit of a runny nose, but that's mostly controlled by my allergy medication, so I don't really count that. But all of this combined still wipes me out, and I'm not really interested in going out into the weather to poke a dead thing with a stick, not even a whale.

This reminds me of the time I discovered the rotting corpse of a sea lion, while I was pregnant with my youngest... but I'll leave it at that, since I don't know what's legal and what isn't, and I don't want to implicate anyone at this point! I bring it up now, though, because I have a bumper sticker which I bought after the sea lion incident, which still resides on my van, and reads something to the effect of: "I like poetry, long walks on the beach, and poking dead things with a stick."

And this is true, even now. I do like to poke dead things with a stick, and the rarer they are, the better. I'd not dream of desecrating the body, just learning more about it through observation. It's part of the reason I had no problem with preparing my mother's body for her memorial service. Not really a tasteful correlation, but I'm sure you get the idea.

I'd love to go poke at a dead whale. Unfortunately, my phlegm-filled lungs are protesting at a mad rate, and I couldn't manage my youngest son under those circumstances to boot. A trip to the beach does not sound good at all! (Did I actually say that?!?) Sorry, girlfriend--- you're on your own this time!