Wednesday December 15th 2021

Today’s weather was both better and worse than Tuesday’s. The day started with ten to fifteen minutes of light rain followed by a gradual clearing. It looked like the sun was about to win the battle in the sky when it started to rain again. After a few minutes the cycle repeated. I thought it was finally clearing late in the afternoon when another couple minutes of rain arrived. It came with a benefit. The rain departed leaving a gorgeous rainbow arcing across the eastern sky.

Unlike Tuesday, I was mentally prepared for today’s rain. It wasn’t a day that you could get very far away from shelter, but it wasn’t terrible. I took a drive around the area to see what’s changed from my last visit in April. The twenty mile stretch of US 27 from Clermont south to Interstate 4 is full of new development. Years ago the area was filled with orange groves. Now, it is a combination of retail space and housing. The new housing ranges from vacation rental properties and townhouses to single family homes in the upper half of the x00Ks near a million dollars.

The area around the state park is still not heavily developed, but a new development is being established across US 27 from the parks entrance. Last spring there were roads and two or three houses in various stages of construction. Now there are at least twenty or more homes across the hillside and lots of open space for more homes. Next year I expect to find a traffic light at the entrance to the state park and the new development. It really needs one.