Late December of 2017 through early January of 2018 saw record cold in Maine and other parts of the Norteast. The nearest National Weather Service station is about 5 miles away and their records are as follows: 12-25 +3, 12-26 0, 12-27 -9, 12-28 -4, 12-29 -16, 12-30 -16, 12-31 -13, 1-1 -18, 1-2 -11, 1-3 -8, 1-4 +1, 1-5 0. With temperatures like these lasting for an extended period, I anticipated heavy losses, especially among the species. I was happily mistaken. Among the big leaf species, fictolacteum was the most severely damaged but is currently putting out new growth. Sutchuense and calophytum - both between 3 and 4 feet tall - were not at all damaged. Neither was asterochnum although this smaller plant was beneath a good depth of snow. All of these were protected with teepee style frameworks covered with landscape fabric. This is necessary even in mild winters to protect the large leaves from wind damage. Snow depth during this period was 10 to 12 inches, so the above the snow line growth was fully exposed to the cold. Other species, some with wind barriers and some without, that came through the winter with no or minimal damage included insigne, bathyphyllum, pseudochrysanthum, adenopodum, adenogynum, roxieanum v. orenestes, balfourianum, paradoxum, taliense, russatum, wasonii, souliei I don't really have any ready explanation for how species rated as hardy to 0 or -10 withstood prolonged temperatures far below that range. Certainly the snow cover, even though it was not deep enough to cover all the foliage of most of them, was a factor. The fact that this cold arrived relatively late after plants were fully dormant is another factor. Last summer was extremely dry and October was exceptionally warm. This meant that watering and natural rainfall continued later than usual. The hardiness ratings may be overly conservative although it's never wise to generalize after a single experience. There were fatalities: thayerianum, pseudotrichum and fortunei (which has never done well for me). Hybrids mirrored my experience with the species. The ultra hardy David Leach ones did fine as expected. Others, like several of the Hachmann hybrids, were fully exposed to the cold but suffered very little damage and bloomed well. Low growing hybrids, many of them originating in the UK or on West coast, were fine beneath the snow.

Finally watched the 2nd half last night. I was glad to see the Godfather get blind sided... always like a good blindside! lol I think the remaining casts are a lot better physically matched now that the big guys are all out. Gabby bugs me - always crying over something stupid. Carl didn't talk to me wah wah wah. There's Christian comforting her and making sure she is ok. And the previews showing she wants to get him out? OMG! That made me so mad! What a traitor. I always like when a STRONG player wins - the ones who ride coattails and get to the end make me so mad. Gabby would be one of those. I hope her plan gets back to Christian and backfires on her!

I shop at the local Walmart for all the staples because the same items in the higher-end grocery are ridiculously high. But there are some items in the higher-end store that I buy because the quality is superior and I am blessed in that I can afford to do it if I desire. While I do see customers at Walmart that appear in financial situations that would be considered poverty level, I don't assume that they are "sketchy". I see an awful lot of high-end vehicles like Mercedes and Lexus in the parking lots of Walmarts. And I'm adding this edit because it occurred to me that I might come off to some people as "sketchy" because I don't wear high-end clothes and shoes when I go shopping. I also don't wear a lot of expensive jewelry or carry a high-end purse or drive an expensive vehicle. But it's not because I don't have the money to buy better, there's nothing at a Walmart that if I wanted I couldn't afford to pay for it cash. It's just not my style. Just because my appearance is doubtful to some doesn't mean that I would ever dream of doing anything "sketchy". I used to know of a truck stop where they served country-cooked southern breakfast - mostly truck drivers but also a lot of locals. My sister worked there at the time and she pointed to a man wearing bibbed overalls and said "you'd never know by looking at him, but he's a millionaire". There are very poor people in poor clothes that wouldn't do anything "sketchy" if you paid them. There are also people who live high on the hog who are moral pigs.

"I would rather have seen Noura go after that very strange tribal council." Noura really seems certifiable. Even before tribal council, when she was trying to convince Dean (?) to split the vote, and she couldn't understand that all four of them (the ones who didn't get the loved ones reward) needed to cast their votes on the same person. They even showed her with leaves spread out on the beach, to represent everyone, trying to figure out the votes! But Dean started it all at tribal, when he leaned over to Tommy and told him that he was on the chopping block. Why did he do that? He seemed genuinely irritated that he didn't get picked for the reward. But, yeah, after the way Noura spouted off at tribal, I was really hoping that everyone would say to themselves, "ok, we can get rid of Karishma next week, but Noura's got to go now." I agree with Share_Oh that the group shouldn't be allowed to move around to talk amongst themselves so much. Whispering to the person next to you is one thing, but getting up and walking around shouldn't be allowed. They should have their strategy worked out before they walk in.