Lone Sailboat at Dusk by Daniel Ramirez

Although I am a native of California, I had not heard of these magical jellyfish-like creatures called By the Wind Sailors. They travel along on the surface of the ocean propelled by the wind and currents. They have a sail-like structure on top that is positioned to catch the wind and usually keeps them from drifting to shore. But when there is a change in the direction of the wind they can be carried onshore to their deaths. When this happens, thousands of them can be found stranded on the beach from Washington state to Southern California. We like to think that we have control of our lives and can carefully plan out each detail. Maybe we are really more like By the Wind Sailors carried about by the winds and currents of our lives.