Friday October 9th 2020

The above normal temperatures continue. Combined with the high humidity the days continue to be uncomfortable. Today was the sunniest day of the past several. The clouds were a lot more scattered and no afternoon rain passed through this area.

Today was a resupply day. I ran out a couple of daily consumables, orange juice and bread yesterday. Of course, I bought a lot more than just those two items. Ever since the pandemic hit I’ve been keeping more stuff on hand. My overhead pantry cabinets are packed full of duplicates of things I like to eat and my refrigerator and freezer have more in them. In pre-pandemic days I planned on shopping every week and kept only a little more than I needed on hand. Now I’m keeping more on hand to keep my options open.

The Walmart Supercenter I visited today was well stocked and had spacious aisles for a change. I managed to find and buy “Clorox Clean-up Cleaner and Bleach” for the first time since the start of the pandemic. In the early days, I couldn’t find any spray bottles of cleaner. By the time I ran out in the summer, odd name brands were available. Today was the first time I found a recognizable brand on the shelves. On the other hand, I haven’t been able to find any cans of corn lately. Even in the early days, I usually found my favorite vegetable. The challenges of shopping continue.

The state park is filling up for the weekend. Similar to last week a few arrived on Wednesday, more on Thursday and the main influx was today. I’m curios what is going to happen at one of the sites down the road. After setting up their trailer, they decorated the campsite. They put tiki torches all around the site. Each torch has a big white bow with streaming ribbons attached. Under their awning they have a table setup with a white table cloth. It looks like they are getting ready for a wedding. I can’t imagine the rationale or logistics for having such an event in a state park campground.

In addition to the march around the grocery store, today’s exercise was a couple of walks around the park. The water level in Lake Manatee is now much higher on the bank than when I arrived twelve days ago. At that time I commented on it being unusually low. Now it seems unusually high. The Dam managers must be “playing” with the water levels.