AT THE SHORE OF LAKE CECILE AT THE RESORT



 Pair of sandhill cranes

 Big flock of coots

Immature white ibis on roof of shelter on dock.

Note the clear blue sky.

2011 Wed. Jan 19


Lunch here, then we went to Walmart so I could get my fishing license and some bait, and Linda could get a few groceries. Back at the resort, I went fishing off the dock, but didn’t get a bite. There is a boardwalk that goes about 50 feet out into the lake through some vegetation out to a covered dock. It was perfect out - not a cloud in the sky, very warm and breezy. So Linda sat and read a book, and I watched my bobber (some). Mostly I watched the sandhill cranes pecking in the ground nearby, the young ibis sitting on the peak of the roof of the shelter on the dock, the egret in the vegetation at the edge of the lake, and the huge flock of coots. By a very rough approximation, there were over 200 of them, all huddled very close together - must be for protection from predators somehow. Then a huge flock of crows flew over- and we started to think of Hitchcock’s movie about the attacking birds!! After a couple of hours of no bites, we gave up and went back to our unit. I think I’ll fish over at the lakes in Celebration, or sometimes at the big lake in Kissimmee, Lake Toho. At least I’ve seen people catch there, but not so far this year. Maybe it needs to stay warm longer before they start to bite. Anyway, I love fishing, even if there is no catching happening.

FL WEATHER: High 77, low 58, nice breeze. As I said above, not a cloud in the sky today. Supposed to be about 80 tomorrow, so I know a front will be coming through soon. It always goes like this - in the 70’s for several days, maybe up to 80, then a front comes through and it drops down to 60’s (unlikely, but possibly 50’s) for a day or two, then back to the 70’s for several days, repeating. I LOVE it!!!

FL NEWS: Rep. Stargel explains her grading-parents bill:
As a state lawmaker interested in education reform, Kelli Stargel said she's heard a lot of discussions that come down to, "What about the parent?" Schools and teachers can do only so much, she said, if parents don't make sure their children are in class and ready for academic lessons. That's why she has proposed a bill that would require elementary school teachers to grade parents on the "quality" of their school involvement. A parent rating — satisfactory, needs improvement, or unsatisfactory — would appear on the child's report card. The proposal is not meant to be punitive or intrusive, she added, but a way to prod parents to make their child's education a top priority. Parents could appeal their grade but nothing more would happen if a poor involvement rating remained on their child's report card — except that, perhaps, some parents would work harder on those areas.
Already, some have said they fear her proposal would make parent-teacher relations more tense and add to teachers' workload. The president of the PTA at NorthLake Park Community School in Orlando wondered whether such a law would be effective in changing parent behavior, and whether busy teachers would really be in a position to judge parents.