East of the mountains, we live in apple country ——and pear, peach, cherry and hop country. Those dark green areas in the picture above are orchards typical of those that cover the hills and valleys. The orchards were quiet on Sunday during our photo expedition, but before long they will be alive with pickers and the warehouses full of packers preparing fruit for shipping all over the world. The Washington Apple Commission is predicting the second biggest harvest ever, nearly 109 million bushels. These are Red Delicious, no longer the dominant variety but still hugely popular.
Many growers have torn out acreages of Red Delicious and replaced them with Gala, Pink Lady or Fuji, some of the newer varieties with crisper textures or sweeter taste, or both.
I wonder what Wayne Shorter’s favorite is.
They also grow pears around here, not quite in the profusion of apples, but they are an abundant cash crop.
Music referring to pears is rare. There might be none if Eric Satie hadn’t responded to critics who accused him of writing music that had no form. He called this Trois Morceaux en Forme de Poire (Three pieces in the Form of a Pear). Here are Robert and Gaby Casadesus.