This Is Nice

Via Glenn, an article about the development of a disease-resistant American Chestnut that could lead to a widespread return of these trees to the Eastern United States.

This article caused a particular ganglion in my brain to twitch. [Bonus: Spot the movie reference.] I couldn't read it without thinking of James Thurber's story which mentioned his Great-Uncle Zenas dying of the blight that wiped out the chestnuts in the early 20th Century and the need for a family friend to impersonate him in order to calm Thurber's senile grandfather. The story is from My Life and Hard Times, one of the funniest collections of essays ever penned, but I simply cannot remember right now which specific essay it comes from. For some reason, I think it's either "The Car We Had To Push" or else "The Night The Ghost Got In", but I may be wrong. Guess that means it's time to reread the book.