Something New, #83

This time of year is when the local farmers bring in their produce and sell it off the back of their pickups on the side of the roads.

I've never stopped at one, so I did.

Three young men were selling corn off the back of their pickup, so I bought a half dozen. I asked them is they picked it themselves, seeing how they were three white boys in Southern Johnson County. Only one was was responsible for the actual labor.

I then had to go into old lady mode and tell them when I was little, we'd go to my grandmother's and my mom, grandmother, aunt and uncle's wife would pick corn all day. They'd bring it home, and shuck it, blanch it, and put them in seal-a-meal bags to freeze.

I was recruited one summer to help shuck, but every damned ear I opened had a little green worm in it. I bitched about it so much, I was recruited to babysit the little kids.

One summer, my cousin Millie, who is about 10 years older than me, came to babysit. We spent the week painting plaster Christmas tree ornaments. I still have a set and put a few on my tree every year.

Guess I wasn't wasting my time at all.