Friday December 18th 2020

Today was even colder than Thursday. The daily high was more than ten degrees below normal after getting down into the low forties overnight. The gradual rise in temperature was still in the fifties at noon and peaked in the low sixties late in the daylight hours. I’m not complaining. It is so much worse in the northeast part of the US, but for the Florida suncoast this is unusual.

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The wildlife was a little harder to find today. Many of the alligators avoided the sunny river banks and the birds were staying in areas sheltered from the wind. Late in the day with the wind a little calmer the birds were more visible.

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The park was “invaded” by the police today. In the parking lot for the Upper Myakka Lake there were around fifty police and sheriff vehicles. The officers were attending some kind of training class that seemed to involve canoes. Later in the day, as I was walking along the main park road to the river, a steady parade of police vehicles each with a single occupant made its way out of the park. I’m surprised the city of Sarasota and the county had enough resources to do their job with so many at the park.

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