Speaking of apples, if anyone knows where (and when) I can find Northern Spy apples in Chicago, thanks in advance. All I can find are Tasteless But Pretty.
It doesn't surprise me that they can't identify the variety offhand. Last I had heard, there were about 1,800 named varieties of apples in the U.S. if I recall correctly. That was in 1976. I almost took a graduate assistantship to research apple leaf photosynthesis at the U. of Michigan, but decided that wasn't particularly interesting.
If you can't find anything in Chicago, try Wells and Wade Co. in Wenatchee, WA. They used to carry 100's of different cultivars of apples.