Sunday December 23rd 2018
Today was a slow day after two or three relatively active days. The weather was bright and sunny, but above all it was calm. There was next to no wind at all. The temperature peaked at an unusually low sixty three. The normal high temperature is in the low seventies.
In between football games I took a couple of bicycle rides to the Myakka River. The water level has continued to rise since the storm ended on Saturday. It is now out of its banks in some areas and continuing to rise. The National Weather Service has a flood warning up until Tuesday. The current level is above six feet and it is expected to peak around seven feet. The difference in water level between my noon bicycle ride and my 4PM ride was readily apparent. This flooding is being compared to flooding in January of 1998 by the NWS.
The high water level is making it difficult to see alligators and water birds. All of the nice green grass covered banks are either completely underwater or partially flooded. The gators are staying in the water. Occasionally you see an alligator head above the surface of the water. The birds are doing more flying between the high ground and more than normal are perched in trees.
The calm day made a very reflective surface on the river for picture taking. It complicated trying to get pictures of the birds along the banks. I got a few very pretty reflection pictures, but I also took a few pictures that the reflection obscures the intended objective of the shot. Finding the right pictures to include in this blog entry has been a challenge.
