Friday January 6th 2017

It was a sunny day with high temperatures in the mid 70s. As night approached so did the weather front. The same line of storms that is bringing freezing rain and snow from Atlanta to New England is here as heavy rain tonight.

Campground laundry

This was a domestic duties day. I didn’t leave the campground today. The holding tanks got dumped, the campground laundry got a visit and the RV interior got cleaned up a little. About the time I was ready to get the car and leave the park, I got caught up in the TV coverage of the airport shooting in Fort Lauderdale.

Like the coverage of many similar events, it was over done. The reporters and anchors don’t know how to fill time waiting for new information to develop. They end up repeating things, often incorrectly, or speculating about aspects of the situation. Often the anchors don’t have time to watch their own coverage or listen to the reporters reports. A couple of times during this coverage video that was being repeated for the Nth time was declared new video “just in” by the anchor. On another occasion after it was determined the suspect came in on a plane from Alaska, the “analysts” were discussing the need and problems associated with airport screening at the perimeter of the airport property. If they were paying attention they’d have known it would not have impacted this situation. Most likely they just needed to fill time or present a controversial point.

Dolphin in the Little Manatee River

The campground has hibiscus plants on every corner.

The most exciting thing today occurred during one of my walks around the resort. At the overlook of the Little Manatee River I was treated to the passage of a couple of dolphins. The park is located less than a mile from the mouth of the river into Tampa Bay. I knew it often had manatees in passing by, but it also has dolphins swimming in the river. Today I saw a pair heading up river. They passed by close enough that I could hear them clear their blow holes every time they came up for air. Now I have more one more thing to watch for in the river.