What happened to all the rhubarb?

My little personal monthly challenge is continuing well, though I don't think I've ever spent so much on chicken before. Rosy is certainly a pricey bird. And I'm enjoying my more frequent excursions to Whole Foods and Sprouts where it is much easier to find grass fed, cage free, etc.

To add to my grocery challenges of this month, I have a double birthday to contend with. And one is not so much into the birthday cake thing. In fact, his favorite thing is rhubarb pie. (Really, it might be gooseberry, but there's a snowballs chance in hell of finding one of those in Arizona.).

Have you tried to find fresh rhubarb lately? I remember seeing it everywhere last Fall. This year, produce managers everywhere are whimpering about some California happenstance wiping out the early and mid season rhubarb harvest.

Where does that leave my pie adventures? I can always go with a nice solid apple, for who doesn't like apple? I can go high end with pears and cranberries. Or the iffy cream pie route with a key lime (for some reason, dozens of those suddenly made themselves available).

So, what's the pie equivalent of a straight up rhubarb?