Next week we’re taking a vacation on the Oregon Coast, and a biologist friend brought over some specimen books so we can identify any unusual organisms that attack us.

Iris’s favorite of the books is one called Whelks to Whales, a highly illustrated guide to everything from…well, you know. Iris can flip through the book and name half the things in it now. I think she’s going to be disappointed when we get to the beach and it’s basically all anemones and kelp.

I found the book amusing too, because there are plenty of organisms with funny names. Like a sea star called the Cookie Star, because it looks exactly like a cookie. If we find one, I think Iris and I are equally likely to try to eat it. But the best thing in the whole book is a slimy, lumpy ascidian colony called:

Sea Pork

I thought I liked every kind of pork, but I am prepared to make an exception.