yum ~ sweet corn

We "did corn" recently. 

If you are as lucky as we are to grow your own sweet corn and have that yummy goodness for as many meals as you wish, then you probably know what that first sentence means.  "Doing corn" is a two word description of picking a truckload of sweet corn, husking, washing, cutting, cooking, cooling, bagging.  With the weather conditions in their current state it was a very-last-minute plan.  {We decided at 10pm that we'd do it the next day.} Brent and Steve picked it all and Grandma Jean and I helped them with the rest of the steps.  Since it was so last minute I had some appointments and Brent had some work things to take care of throughout the day... so Grandma and Steve really did most of the work!  It was a great day, we got a lot done and as much work as it is, it is worth it the rest of the year! 

I love visiting with Brent's Grandma.  She has great stories and a different perspective on things from her 77 years.  For example, she didn't even want any of the corn that she spent hours laboring over!  {We sent enough bags to fill her freezer against her insistence.}  She said it was the best day of her summer so far because of the company :-) 

I came away from our day thinking about two things she talked about.  First, was how unique it was that Steve and Brent spent the whole day "doing corn."  Her comment was that you wouldn't find many husbands who would get up at the crack of dawn to hand pick the corn, let alone stick around all day to do the rest of the work, including clean up & {sticky} dishes.  Her comment stuck with me because I take for granted that Brent will do his share.  We enter many endeavors together - some that I drag my feet... some that he drags his feet... but still together.  I couldn't be more blessed because we can spend days like this together and we enjoy spending days like this together. 

Of course the hot weather was a topic during our day and Jean said that her sister, Lois, was born during a very hot summer in 1936.  We wondered just how hot so I quickly got on my phone {I was stirring corn as it cooked, don't be fooled - I didn't really work that hard} and searched for weather records in 1936.  Lois was born on July 13, 1936, and the average temperature in Iowa on that day was 113 degrees F.  It isn't newborn baby Lois I was thinking of - it was her and Jean's mother!  Giving birth in that kind of heat with no air conditioned, no fans, no running water, or ice... Oh my!  The summer of 1936 still stands as the hottest summer on record in the United States. 

We had a great day, accomplished a lot and enjoyed the company while doing it.