Monday February 1st 2021

The winter storm in the northeast that is dropping a lot of snow is impacting Florida as well. The cold front passed through last night with a little wind and a fair amount of rain. The passing front started the temperature on a downward trajectory. The high temperature for the day was at midnight. It was in the mid to high fifties this morning and continued to drop to the high forties at sunset. It will be in the thirties by morning. There was not a sign of the sun today and the wind was strong out of the northwest.

The lack of sun is significant. When the sun beats down on my RV home it warms up quickly. The trees around my campsite slow the heating down a little, but with a full cloud cover there is no solar gain. When you trow in the wind, the inside of the RV needs continuous support to remain warm. The winters I’ve spent in Nevada are colder overall, but most days have full sunlight that heats the inside of my RV home nicely. Heat is only needed after sunset. Around here, this winter has been a real roller coaster. The twenty degree plus change in temperature from day to day requires a lot of change. Yesterday I was in short sleeve shirts and pants. Today I’m wearing more than one layer inside and even more outside. It is still much better than negative temperatures and a foot of falling snow.

Today’s walk down to the river was back to a solitary experience. All of the weekend visitors to the park were gone. The wind in the trees interrupted the quiet. Palm tree branches can be very loud when they hit and scrape other branches. Falling dead palm branches are also a real hazard. I heard and saw more than a few fall on today’s walk.

The turtles were not out of the water today and the birds were all scrunched up against the wind. Surprisingly, the human animals were still active. There were two or three groups of kayaks on the river and one guy all alone in a big canoe. The five mile length of the Silver River is a very scenic paddle. If you put in at the head waters of Silver Springs and take out at the wayside park near the confluence with the Ocklawaha River it is a strong current aided float. In normal times the concessionaire at Silver Springs even offers shuttle service. To paddle both ways it would be better to start at the Wayside park so you can fight the current up river when you are fresh. If I had a paddle buddy, I’d have rented a kayak by now. It has been a few years since I kayaked, so I’m not inclined to do it solo with the strong current in this river.