J popped off to Chicago for a weekend to see Dave and Megan. The rain did not dampen their first night bar stop.

Dave & Megan

Naturally, Dave had put together a full schedule including a reading, dance performance, gallery opening, visit to his Ginkgo Garden, dining and sightseeing.

News & Notes

• J's main purpose in visiting Chicago was to participate in a fundraiser for Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP), the brainchild of Dave and his friend Carl Baratta.
  

  

  The idea is to plant heirloom apple orchards in vacant lots in Chicago to perpetuate the varieties and build an urban community around gardening. Despite the apple's (Malus domestica) extreme genetic diversity -- thousands of varieties have been cultivated over the centuries -- only a few are grown commercially. Trees planted in the past (heirloom apples) but not favored by corporations (for example, because they do not store well) are in danger of being lost. CROP seeks to reestablish these orchards in the city!

• The fundraiser, conceptualized and organized by Megan, was a Farm-To-Table dinner put on by CROP volunteers at the Birchwood Kitchen. Jason Ball, a Birchwood chef -- and a CROP enthusiast -- served a dinner using rare apples in every course.

  

  Jason Ball explains nuances of cider cured pork chops and savory apple tatin

• Tomoko received two new certifications from Emory University in Atlanta. They are in "Wound Management and Continence Care" and "Instrumental Debridement of Necrotic Wounds." Nurses study truly amazing stuff!

• Brendan and Melissa, whose wedding was chronicled here, took their long-delayed honeymoon to Australia. They visited Melbourne, Port Douglas (to see the Great Barrier Reef) and Sydney.

  

  Brendan & Melissa

• Road Report: Dan and Tomo took a Halloween hike at High Falls State Park in GA. We took a quick trip to Lopez Island to see Ken and Shelley Burr, and to Vancouver BC, to see Noelle Lamb.