I have just arrived home from several weeks on the road; speaking on plants, of plants, with keen gardeners from across North America. Many might find the process of travel unadulterated drudgery and there are times, I admit, that actually getting to anywhere, anymore, seems like an ample slice of hell. Security now requires a virtual strip down and body search, something I might have truly enjoyed twenty years ago (well, ok, I still find the entire airport population in underwear a bit titillating).

Today, flying back from San Franscisco, I sat next to a big person who was consuming, in a rather fascinating syncopated tempo, a bag of flavored corn chips nearly the size of the Goodyear Blimp. It was not one of those dainty ten chip ordeals. This was a bag that would have served an entire family reunion, or perhaps an ancient religious ceremony attended by thousands near a river, as an accoutrement to miraculous baskets of fish and barrels of a good quality vintage fermented from water. [Read more…]