Monday December 24th 2018

Merry Christmas

It is hard to believe that today is Christmas Eve. I started seeing Christmas decorations for sale in September. As Halloween decorations came down Christmas decorations went up. The end of October was also the start of nonstop Christmas movies on TV and dedicated Christmas music channels started to spring up on satellite radio. I enjoy all of these seasonal attributes, but it also skews the timing of the holiday. Some times you wonder when it will be over and other times you just enjoy the moment.

My daily activities don’t help bring the season home either. I’m not doing a lot of Christmas shopping or even dealing with the cold weather. I’m enjoying outdoor activities and adventures similar to any other time of year. The only difference is I’ll be celebrating the holidays with friends so I will be a little more social than normal.

The Myakka River continues to rise at the state park. On my morning bicycle ride I found the water had crept closer to the road in several areas. The current passing under the bridge is much faster than normal and includes a lot of debris. The alligators have found new resting places in the water that has flowed into the marshes and fields beside the river bank. When a gator is spotted near the road it causes a real traffic jam. Everyone needs a gator picture. I’ve included a few of mine in this blog entry.

Merry Christmas