Puppet masters

So is Michigan a big cheese state?

You must be thinking of Wisconsin, Uncle Ken, but I have no idea how it relates to peaches.  Just to make sure, I did a Google search for peach + cheese and nothing came up except for a big boatload of recipes for peach cheesecake, all of which appear to be quite delectable.  Good old Wikipedia has a lot to say about peaches, more than I really need to know, but there are some fun facts that somehow escaped my notice such as the fact they originated in China.  Those damn Chinese again!   If a peach lacks fuzz it's a nectarine; how 'bout that?  And now I know what a "cling" peach is; same as a freestone peach but different.  Go figure.

Back in the Fifties there were immigrant guys, possibly Italian, who sold peaches throughout the neighborhood in the summertime, slowly driving a truck down the alleys and shouting "Peaches! Peaches!"  He sold more than peaches, stuff like corn, apples, and other seasonal fruits and veggies but I guess  yelling "peaches" made his sales pitch easier.  Did you South Siders have the same kind of thing?

It's too bad that your local growers have given up on apples, Mr. Beagles.  It's difficult to compete with the "big guys" especially when it comes to shipping.  Small volume producers can get screwed unless they specialize in heirloom or exotic cultivars of apple.  Once in a while at the supermarket I'll see an apple that I've never heard of so I have to
write down the name and run it through the Google Fu.  Some apples I just don't like, mostly because of texture.  One very cool aspect of growing apples is that, since the branches are grafted onto a root stock, you can have different kinds of apples growing on the same tree.  One branch could be Granny Smith, another branch could be Fuji, and a third branch could be Rome Beauty.  I don't know if there's an upper limit to the number of varieties that are possible but it's fun to think about.

Another curious thing about apple trees is that if you plant one from seed you will have no idea what kind of apple tree will grow.  There's some weird genetics at play; plant the seeds from a Golden Delicious and you won't get Golden Delicious trees.  If you want Golden Delicious apples you'll have to graft a Golden Delicious branch onto whatever apple tree root stock you have handy.  Nature can be weird.

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It wasn't long ago that there was a little discussion about the Czech language which I believe both of you South Siders are familiar with.  But did you know that the language was nearly wiped out because the people of that area (Bohemia) were forced to speak German?  The language was saved by puppet shows; the puppets weren't forced to speak German, and it's a charming tale.

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Hoo, boy!  Mueller is playing a cagey game while cutting deals with offers of immunity, and some folks are snatching those offers up.  That tabloid publisher reportedly has a safe full of documentation about payoffs, killed stories, and other rocks Trump would rather not see turned over.  The killer deal of immunity is for the guy who is the Chief Financial Officer of the Trump Organization; this guy goes way back, even so far as to have worked for daddy Fred.  So that makes it that the Trump Organization is being investigated, the Trump Campaign is being investigated (no collusion!), and the Trump Foundation is being investigated.  Luckily he has only the best people working for him, high quality and high IQ types, just like him.