The 21st Annual Fall Extravaganza - Palms & Company

[Palmarum]

- 11:40AM - Another large grouping of palms, both common and rare, make it to the checkout. I made one circle around the order seeing what was buried in there. On the left, Larry Searle starts clipping tags and counting plants as his daughter Mandy writes them down. On the right, Gloria keeps the counted and uncounted plants apart.

- The order was a healthy mix of Palms, Crotons, Flowering shrubs and other plants. Larry and Mandy make quick work of it.

- Lunch was still calling and I made a last second look through before heading back. It was one great group of plants and the start or continuation of an incredible collection.

- I almost forgot to mention how perfect the weather had been all day and all weekend. Almost clear skies, warm weather and a little rain in the forecast, but we never saw any.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:44AM - The side road is always busy. In addition to being the main pathway leading to the shadehouse and the BBQ lunch area, it also showcases many of the more unusual flowering shrubs, rare flowering trees and other botanical oddities. I am not sure what the customer was looking up at, but it must have been interesting.

- 11:54AM - BBQ goodness. Hot dogs and hamburgers for all. There was plenty to go around and we didn't get low on burgers until Sunday. (B) Even with all the extra tables and chairs stuffed under the the barn, seating was still at a premium.

- Customers were making their own seating areas across from the barn, sharing shade with the Tropical Flowering Tree section.

- 12:35PM - I didn't get to the photo until late, but this was after Travis had helped his neighbor Jackie select a few different landscape plants.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:54PM - Volunteer and FM. Tim O'Donnel (kwtimo) is multitasking. He is making way for a cart, holding leaves back and answering questions, all at the same time.

- A cart rolls past the white tent loaded with a mix of Heliconia cultivars, a few aroids, a 3 gal. Carpoxylon macrospermum (hidden in the back left corner) and a 20 gal. Mount Lewis King Palm, Archontophoenix purpurea. I was in the middle of pulling, tagging and readying more Red Sealing Wax Palms, Cyrtostachys renda, for the block on the left. We can never have enough of them.

- 1:45PM - It was still late in the lunch 'hour' when I ventured back to the front area once more. Many were still in line for a burger. (B) "We need some coconuts!" A customers demand was met with brutal efficiency as multiple Green Malayan Dwarf Coconuts gets loaded, one after another.

- On the other side of the road and within the holding area, Travis carries and loads a 7 gal. Phlogacanthus turgidus for a customer. A great flowering shrub for many different landscape roles. It is also known as Lavender Bells or rarely sometimes as Mauve Acanthus. (B) The aforementioned Green Malayan Dwarf Coconuts get quickly brought to the checkout, as Amber approaches on the left to write them up. 

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:53PM - A customer gets his money ready as Trevor and company decide whether to transfer the plants individually or move the entire load in one move. The customer's own cart was packed full. There is a Licuala grandis in there, along with a mix of Gingers, Calatheas, Flowering Trees and Ground Orchids. 

- 2:08PM - Kylie Searle in action. She took it upon herself to pick up a fallen 7 gal. Miami Surpreme Gardenia. The wind had picked up later in the day. It was all quick and spontaneous, so I had to 'shoot from the hip' and take the photos through the orange fence.

- Hard to see in the above photos, but her actions stirred up the hyper nursery 'guard dog' Dumbo2, who was chasing Kylie around. She returned the favor by chasing Dumbo2... (B) I do not know who tired out who, but both had to take a break after a while.

- 3:00PM - Dumbo2 is selective of who she will try to get attention from. Not as picky when it comes to food. Travis pets and riles her up, as Dumbo2 deliberately lays down on the golf cart seat, preventing Travis from sitting down. (B) Action in the shadehouse drew me back as the afternoon continued to be busy, right up until closing time. The activity along the sidewalks and tables kept me here for the rest of the day. There was a stream of collectors and enthusiasts that were late in arriving. I talked to one that spent much of the day traveling to the nursery from west-central Florida. One aluminum cart was loaded with a spread of Banana cultivars, Palms and other plants. In the lower right, a trio of one-gallon Pinanga javana wait within the group as a 15 gal. Pinanga coronata var. 'blunt, thin leaflet form' sits at the back of the cart.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

Sunday, October 6th

- 8:58AM - Sunday mornings are usually slow, but we always get one or two customers that try to beat the crowd, so we try to expect anything. With the opening at 9:00 instead of 8:00, we had extra time to restock and recover the sales area. I concentrated on the shadehouse, which was damp and cool from early morning showers. It had an effect on my lens filter as it fogged up after taking the lens cap off. The tables got extra attention, as they were thinned out. Certain species were restocked from a nearby supply, but not so much. (B) No matter how much I moved the plants around, spaces were still apparent.

- The last three tables were mixed thoroughly, with each species in one or two rows. It's nice when all the plants of one species fit neatly in one row, but they don't always fit. Larger specimens end up along the back of the tables and the species are often arranged in alternating plant sizes of tall, short, tall, short, etc. to make for a better display and to have room for the cards. The early morning rain looked as if it was significant, as everything was watered completely.

- I was reconnoitering the landscape plants, picking up those that fell over, cleaning cards, etc. when I came across one of the newer Ixoras that are part of the selection. The name is 'Kem Pikul' and it originates from Thailand. It is a shorter, upright-growing hybrid with very compact flower heads.

- 9:12AM - We were open. Mark and Travis wait for the attendance to build as customers enter the sales area one at a time. (B) A black truck pulls in. It is one of the volunteer cooks arriving early to start prepping the BBQ area. I swear that dog is psychic, or Dumbo2's ears are large enough to somehow detect the approach of a food-related person.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:20AM - Activity around the Bromeliad section. An early customer duo keeps Jeff's attention quite easily as Scott chats with Candy on the right.

- 9:28AM - There is no obstacle as far as Carson is concerned. He can climb anything. The afternoon lunch rush comes real fast on a Sunday, so better get ready for it. Mark and Travis dig into the protected stash of hamburger and hotdog buns while they hand them off to Larry.

- 11:39AM - As expected, the sale didn't get busy until after Eleven, so we were ready for it. A trailer loaded with numerous 7 gal. Fishtail Palms, Caryota mitis, gets transported out as part of a larger order.

- 11:47AM - Uh oh. Travis shows a funny video to Mark during a slow moment. Their senses didn't detect an impending attack heading their way. (B) Andrea talks with customers as another passes by with a cart loaded with interesting plants, one of which catches their attention. It might have been either the Singapore Twist Cordylines or the 3 gal. Red Sealing Wax Palm, Cyrtostachys renda.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:20PM - Back at the white tent, I was changing the settings on my flash while testing new batteries, when I noticed a familiar Forum member browsing at the tables...

- It was none other than Orlando-based palm nut and Cyrtostachys enthusiast FM. Mike (palmsOrl) in the blue. He and his friend Carlos were perusing the palm selection. Mike seemed to be entranced by the Red Sealing Wax Palms, Cyrtostachys renda. It's like a magic spell, the effect palms can have on people.

- I went a step further and changed lenses. A quick shot of the main shadehouse and one of the white tent as a test. The white tent is the unofficial base for the volunteers, palm nuts and crazy palm-driven fanatics and collectors. This is where we contemplate the palm world as a whole, or just laugh at ourselves or each other as we tell stories, both the grand and ridiculous kind.

- 12:28PM - Palmtalk in person, the live version of the Forum at work. Jeff talks with Mike and Carlos as they discuss the palm world in Florida and elsewhere. Mike is holding one of his new palms, a 1 gal. Apple cultivar of the Sealing Wax Palm, Cyrtostachys renda cv. 'Apple'. 

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:50PM - The customer with the Sun Conure came back for another day at the Extravaganza and brought her avian friend with her. She was using her hand to shade the bird and not trying to grab him. (B) The bird is extremely friendly, as this one customer found out. He was supposed to just walk over to her hand, but instead went all the way up her arm to her shoulder, in an instant. The customer was fine with it, just startled at how fast the bird could move.

- 12:55PM - The Aroid and Tropical Foliage section had to be restocked multiple times throughout the weekend. The remaining plants were pulled forward and the now empty tables at the back were moved out.

- Questions, location queries and loading requests has me traveling the sidewalk from one end to another. It is always fascinating to try and figure out what palm features attract people and in what ways. What does it take to grab a persons interest to a specific species over another? An endless endeavor perhaps.

- 1:03PM - Out at the main intersection, the sale was in high gear. Customers getting plants, orders heading for the checkout, carts moving back and forth, even some restocking was going on as well. On the left, Andrea and Jeff talk with friends and familiar customers about the sale and their upcoming Holiday & Christmas Party, which is another grand enterprise onto itself. The party is not as elaborate at the sale, but it requires a lot of prep work, as any of you who have attended would know. Kylie guards the golf cart as Trevor waits for room ahead to pull the order forward.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:07PM - A customer guides a loaded aluminum cart towards the front area. Andrea suggests having the plants transferred to the nearby trailer. (B) Gomez immediately starts moving the plants over. The group consisted of Aroids, Crotons and Ground Orchids.

- All done. In less than a minute, Mark and Gomez had emptied the aluminum cart onto the trailer. The plants closest to the camera are Philodendron 'Rojo Congo'.

- Looking across the holding area, I noticed a fan leaf waving at me as it was moving down the side road. (B) The fan leaf (and the palm it was attached to) was now moving past, pulled by a customer on the way to the checkout. The leaf belonged to a 7 gal. Licuala peltata var. sumawongii, the largest palm on the cart. Immediately to the right is a 3 gal. Reinhardtia latisecta. An assortment of Bromeliads and Crotons decorate the cart as well as a 3 gal. Lady Palm, Rhapis excelsa; sitting on the closest corner. Those frilly nearly-plumose leaves arching over the entire group belong to a weird Dypsis pembana hybrid.

- 1:11PM - A bit of congestion at the checkout area. Cart drawn orders were being written up on the left, while those loaded upon trailers were being processed on the right.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:12PM - The complex mixtures of plants make for the more interesting collections. I couldn't tell what was included on the first cart, but it was a lot. Volunteer Olivia writes up the order, which included a pair of fruit trees; a Jaboticaba, Plinia cauliflora, and a 'Wonderful' Pomegranate, Punica granatum. (B) The first cart moves out to the registers, as Amber begins writing up the second.

- 2:40PM - A late day run through the shadehouse yielded a nice collection of palms and other plants. With the customer controlling the aluminum cart, Travis was out in front serving as a guide. Viewing the order from the back, a 7 gal. White Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, sits at the right. Those two small plants on the left, are Conchocarpus macrophyllus in quart-size pots. It is a rare, outlier species that has no botanical or horticultural grouping or real familiarity with any other known plants. (B) Viewing from the front, a 15 gal. Ptychosperma schefferi takes up a large spot on the left, with a pair of 7 gal. Hydriastele beguinii var. 'Obi Island Form' on the right side. Small and in front, a 1 gal. Licuala sallehana sits in among a group of Ferns and Rhipsalis representing part of an order from Tropiflora.

- 2:42PM - The Full Sun palm section was popular near the end of the day. A 10 gal. Red Dwarf Spicata Coconut, Cocos nucifera cv. 'Red Dwarf Spicata', joins a 10 gal. Pseudophoenix vinifera for a ride out of the sales area. The brightly colored coconut was the last of its group. We would have to restock them for the second weekend.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

Friday, October 11th

- 11:54AM - Activity during the second Friday was slow as expected. We managed to have customers throughout the day, but at a minimal level. This balances out with the fact we do not have the abundant level of volunteers like we do for the first Friday. Its mostly a skeleton crew for the day. When I arrived in the shadehouse early that morning, I found a batch of plants waiting to be sorted, tagged and placed. They were the restocks pulled during the four days between weekends. About half went to the tables, while the other half were placed along the sidewalk. In between customers, the day was spent restocking and recovering the sales area. (B) Before I knew it, it was lunchtime. On my way to the BBQ, I photographed the group of Areca vestiaria along the sidewalk. We were out of one-gallon plants, but still had two seven-gallons remaining to keep the twenty-five-gallon specimen company.

- 11:57AM - As the day was slow, there weren't too many action shots available. I only have one group of photos to post for the day. I mostly photographed plants that needed a card or captured photogenic moments, like new red leaves, open flowers, etc. For lunch today, Travis donned the chefs hat and prepared the leftover hotdogs and hamburgers, as there weren't too many left. (B) -poof- Instant dog. Dumbo2 appeared out of thin air the second Travis clicked-on the burners for the grill. She must have a super metabolism. She is so thin compared to all the food she gets.

- Larry Searle had to move the New Holland loader around and decided to take Carson for a ride. Carson is obsessed with any form of vehicle, machine, construction equipment, excavator, etc.

- 1:31PM - A line of plant material was positioned in front of the orange fence that marks the holding area. We were running out of sales area to place plants. At the end point, a large Alocasia 'Lutea' was placed to show off the popular aroid. We had numerous one-gallon plants available the first weekend and they all sold, thanks to a view like this. (B) A cart packed with small plants formed a nice collection in the holding area.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

Saturday, October 12th

- 8:38AM - The morning of the second Saturday was busier than expected. We had customers waiting at the gate before we opened at 8:00AM; almost a mirror of the first Saturday or even the first Friday. Not long after we opened, we were getting intermittent showers. The rain wasn't too much, just enough to get everything damp and to be annoying when you are trying to write tags. An early customer checks out the shadehouse intersection. Their cart had colorful evidence of a stop over at the Bromeliad section. (B) The rain was just enough to prevent me from having to water in the morning. Customers were working their way down the main road.

-8:43AM - During a sudden rainfall, I ducked for cover under a leaf of a Verschaffeltia splendida. Those entire leaves really do work well for catching rain. (B) I was following customers and trying to stay dry when I noticed the new red leaf on this 7 gal. Calyptrocalyx lauterbachianus.

- Saying we sold a lot during the first weekend would be an understatement. We did our best to restock for the second weekend and when stock got low, we began to pull, well... anything. The variegated form of the Swiss Cheese Plant known as 'Thai Constellation' (Monstera deliciosa cv.) was extremely popular with customers. We sold all of what we had in larger pots. We pulled rooted divisions of the plant to sell that featured their first leaves, just to have representatives on the table.

- A bright and colorful Croton was in bloom. I am not sure as to the cultivar. Crotons are not grown or collected for their blooms, as the flowers are mostly identical to one another, as the vast amount of cultivars are all derived from the same species; Codiaeum variegatum. Overcast skies make the colors more pronounced when using flash photography.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:00AM - Upfront, Jeff talks plants with a trio of customers. The cart on the right had a 1 gal. Phoenicophorium borsigianum. The 1 gal. plants were another maneuver to 'pull anything' as they were quite large for a one gallon pot; otherwise destined to be potted up. The remaining Orchids were brought from under the barn to the front area. Most were placed on that table to the right.

- 9:38AM - Kylie continues to be a tour guide/ambassador for the Extravaganza. She found a perfect red Hibiscus flower and was showing it to the customers.

- 9:51AM - A few of the Orchids were moved to the receipt writers tent so they would get attention as customers entered the sales area. The idea worked. (B) We had more volunteers for the second Saturday compared to the day before, but it is still less than the first weekend. It is hard to ask for them to help out for two weekends in a row. One exception though, was Derek Burch. He and Jeff talk as others gather by the holding area.

- Carson felt left out, so he grabbed a chair and moved it over to join Andrea and Kylie.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:21AM - Within the shadehouse, attendance was rising as morning was approaching midday. I was pleased to see collectors out and about going through the sale. A few I talked to mentioned either they could not attend the first weekend, or had forgot about it. One palm in particular, Licuala mattanensis var. 'Mapu', always seems to be in the cross hairs of most collectors. What is interesting is when 'non-palm' people know about it. They may not know the name of the palm, but they have seen that mottled leaf somewhere before. These two plants were restocks, as the first two (or three) didn't last long during the first weekend.

- Outside near the one-gallon landscape material, Derek was putting on a clinic. He was explaining the growth and habit of the Evergreen Giant Liriope. He was pointing out what to look for when selecting specimens and how deep to plant when installing them.

- 10:38AM - Surprise! A cart full of Bromeliads heads out from the section to the front area. They are Aechmea zebrina 'Surprise', a popular new hybrid. (B) Guzmania's were flowering themselves crazy.

- 10:58AM - Derek was guiding the customers through the sales area. They were working through a wishlist of plants when he brought them to the Landscape Palms area. (B) The next item on the list was a multiple Pigmy Date Palm, Phoenix roebelenii.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:55AM - The three-gallon sized Dwarf Betel Nut Palms, Areca catechu cv. 'Dwarf', had to be restocked during the day. (B) Earlier in the week before the first weekend, I did a bit of careful surgery on the inflorescence of the larger specimen. It needed a 'hair cut'. The expended rachillae that held the male flowers had turned brown and were all wispy, stiff and weird looking.

- 1:14PM - The receipt writers location had been moved up to the holding area, due to the slower pace of the day. Amber writes up a mixed order of plants, which included a large batch of Podocarpus, Podocarpus macrophyllus. I would believe they are making a hedge.

- 1:22PM - Two Bismarck's, stat! After they were selected by the customer, two 15 gal. Bismarck Palms, Bismarckia nobilis, get loaded in a hurry. Someone was saying something funny, causing Amadeo to laugh.

- 1:26PM - "Well, honey what size do we get?" The Red Sealing Wax Palms do their magic once again. It was interesting to watch the discussion and debate that goes on among customers working together to select a size. The arguments are intuitive and plentiful.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:52PM - During one of my many trips down the sidewalk, a splash of intense color caught my eye. It was a newly emergent inflorescence belonging to a 7 gal. Hydriastele pinangoides. The flowers and rachillae were a deep, crimson red. They were tightly packed together as the spathe had just begun to fall away. The color had a great contrast with the dark brown scales that were decorating the internode rings.

- 3:29PM - Speaking of Dwarf Betel Nut Palms, Jeff is seen here describing the palm to a pair of interested customers. Even without the info and description, this palm is very good at selling itself.

- 3:35PM - Attending on the fifth day of the sale means you have a more leisurely experience. (B) However, it doesn't keep these two from a drawn-out process in deciding who gets what plant.

- The Full Sun palm section is historically one of the most popular areas of the sale. The Caribbean side of the section was thinned out dramatically. Entire rows were gone. Many species were thinned out to a lone specimen; left to hold the sign by themselves.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 3:39PM - An order finds its way onto a trailer. The customer got a lot of stuff, including a Dwarf Red Jade (Vining Bush), Camptosema spectabile. It was sprawling itself across the trailer. We were almost out of Orchids there on the right.

- 3:42PM - The process continues. The two customers were still deciding on who gets what. On the left, Amber waits patiently. (B) A flower 'bouquet' on a Bridal Bouquet Plumeria, Plumeria pudica.

- 3:58PM - Kylie and Carson ride along with their great-uncle Larry.

- 4:13PM - A portal to the world of Palms. The entrance to the main shadehouse is the most often used landmark during the 'Ganza. Andrea is looking on a customer's phone while trying to identify something, probably a plant.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 4:16PM - Then it was Kylie's turn. She wasn't as excited as Carson was, but she had a good time riding the New Holland with Larry at the controls.

- 4:34PM - With the last minutes of the day upon us, we began to recover the sales area. We were spacing plants out along an area near the shadehouse entrance when I noticed something familiar. Under a group of Crotons, was a flowering Monk Orchid, Oeceoclades maculata. This introduced species is common now throughout Broward county. I see those mottled leaves all the time, but I rarely seem to find a plant in bloom. This one was growing in the mulch as part of the sales area. It is native to both Africa and South America. There is a theory floating around, that back in the 1970s, the original seed traveled to Florida along with the Saharan dust that travels across the Atlantic Ocean from time to time.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

Sunday, October 13th

- 10:55AM - The morning of the second Sunday had its early-birds, but mostly it was slow until after Ten o'clock. Travis talks plants with a couple as they added a 1 gal. Calyptrocalyx polyphyllus and the two, 4-inch Licuala mattanensis var. 'Mapu' seen five posts earlier in the topic. (B) When Travis was called off to take care of something else, Jeff took over.

- 11:14AM - Now that's a Searle in action. Carson runs down the side road without spilling his iced tea. (B) The diversity in selected plants alternated between the common and rare for the day. Many customers were coming back for their second or third trip to get more of a specific plant they needed for a project.

- 11:25AM - That family picked up a pair of extra kids. Kylie and Carson merged into the group when no one was looking. (B) It's contagious. During the first weekend, only Amber was crocheting, now she has Olivia doing it.

- 11:38AM - For some reason, Carson decided to attack the Rainbow Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus deglupta, that shades the holding area. (B) Amber writes up a pair of Jade Vines, Strongylodon macrobotrys, for an enthusiastic family of customers. They brought the Pokemon with them.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:38AM - Born to enjoy theme-rides and roller coasters, Carson gets a taste of it, as Travis was rocking the golf cart back and forth. (B) Carson and Kylie were up to something. I don't know what, but we should be ready.

- 12:05PM - A customer holds her two new Orchids in her hands, an Oncidium and a Brassavola. They were part of the remaining ones in the selection. We were about to sell out of them. (B) Another customer whispers to herself as she reads the description belonging to the Tropical Lilac, Cornutia pyramidata.

- 1:19PM - 2:12PM - The afternoon hours of the sale were treated to the attendance of a very enthusiastic and plant-hungry customer. She spent the rest of the day shopping in a hurry, as she was trying to get "One of everything" but couldn't fit it all at home. She was trying to use the size of the cart to limit herself, including the option of not using the holding area. The first photo shows her flying past at one point, looking at every plant group as she moves through with drive and dedication. (B,C) An hour later, she seems to be done, as she parked the cart by the holding area. The tall palm towards the back was a 7 gal. Pinanga fractiflexa*. The rest of the packed cart was loaded with Bromeliads and various other plants. Not seen in these photos, but the customer was getting guided around and assisted by Kylie, where ever she went. *The asterisk refers to the ongoing theory that these palms, originally introduced as Pinanga fractiflexa, may be in fact a species of Areca. 

- 2:12PM - Sunday afternoon saw a steady stream of customers until closing time. (B) To make things easier, a golf cart is used to take a customer and their order out to the parking area. Jeff and Olivia transfer the plants over to the golf cart after they were written up.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 2:15PM - A family debates the choices among the different cultivars of Lychee trees. We didn't have many left, as the Fruit Tree section was thinned out by Sunday afternoon.

- A familiar customer had made a return trip to the sale. They were getting more plants, including additional Pygmy Date Palms, Phoenix roebelenii. The order was growing by the minute, no pun intended.

- 2:17PM - Another view of the packed order seen above. The customer was being led around by Kylie, so they could have been anywhere. This time I noticed the large red flower clusters belonging to a group of 3 gal. Super King Ixoras. (B) The Carpoxylon macrospermum positioned at the front of the sales area did its job throughout the 'Ganza. It brought attention to its species and sold a lot of smaller specimens.

- Amber begins writing up the order. In addition to the P. roebelenii, the customer added a batch of Trinette Arboricola, a few Cactus of some sort, a pair of Mango trees, and a couple of Yellow Malayan Dwarf Coconuts. (B) To make it easier to load, Larry ties up the coconut palms.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 2:19PM - They looked just about ready to head out to the parking area. Larry asks the customer if they were ready and with a happy affirmative, they were off.

- 2:27PM - The day ended with a hug. The excited customer seen above in action was finally ready to go and wanted to thank Kylie for all her help. She traveled the sales area and found Kylie riding around on a golf cart. She just had to give a hug and say"Thank you!" one more time.

 

The Fall Extravaganza was unbelievable in both attendance and activity. It set records in both the sheer amount of material we had available and the plants we sold. It was most likely the best Fall 'Ganza we have had so far, and that is saying a lot. We didn't have that much time to recover as we had a new sale to prepare for. For the first time ever, we were attending Tropiflora's Open House sale and Fall Festival in Sarasota. An event I had never attended before but had heard about for many years. As they attended ours, we shall attend theirs. We had a great attendance among Palmtalk Forum members, various Palm and Plant society members and plant world notables. We look forward to doing it all again.

Ryan

----<

 

It is pouring rain right now. What a deluge, plus wind. ... And thunder...