i'll miss you...corn

It occurred to me that I've already gone through my first "last" in this city: my last ears of The Corn.

In college, I came home to find my roommate shucking corn. This was such a foreign concept to me; I was pretty sure corn came either a) frozen, b) canned, c)popped, or d)chipped. I think I made fun of her.

But I've come around. Fresh corn is worth shucking, especially if it's Bradley Farms corn from our local farmer's market.

I've never gotten to the farmer's market early enough to confirm this, but I imagine a line gathers at the corn stand when the market opens. I've only been there with the slackers, those of us who savor our few hours of sleeping in on a Saturday morning and rush to the booth, sighing in relief when two or three bags of corn still sit in the bed of the truck.

The family that sells the corn give friendly nods when they're complimented on their crop, but I don't think they understand the extent of their reputation. People know about this corn, whether they've been to the farmer's market or not. "This corn is delicious," they might say over dinner at your house, "Is it Mennonite corn?"

I don't like calling it Mennonite Corn (I wouldn't want people calling my, say, cookies Jew Cookies) but here, that's what it's known as.

The women at the corn stand wear plain dress and head covers, but I'm more likely to remember their whiteboard sign announcing that the corn may include extra protein at the end of the season (aka worms) or the so-delicious-yet-so-obvious method they shared with me for cooking the corn: put it in the microwave with lots of butter.

I got my last 4 ears of corn a few weeks ago. The season is over and as far as I know, they haven't been back at the market.

And by the time corn season comes around again, we'll be gone. How upset am I? Mildly so. Yes, fresh corn is delicious. No, Y doesn't need to rank Nebraska or Iowa so I can get my fix.

(PS, I'm patting myself on the back over here for writing an entire post about corn. And yes, Y, you have eaten corn that had worms in it. Surprise! They were cute worms, though.)

I'll miss you... archive:

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roundabout

coffeeshop where everybody knows your name

crape myrtle