Monday - 157th

Here, in south-central Wisconsin, in August -- it's all about corn. On the cob. Fresh. Not just fresh, as in straight from the produce section of your favorite grocery store, but fresh as in picked that morning, sold (curbside!) right at the farm.

It's one of our seasonal peccadilos: we expect daffodils in April, strawberries in June, and in August, we ride the motorcycle down rural roads, usually to our closest farmer, Stoneman, to pick up what is advertised as the sweetest corn in the world. And it is. Go ahead, find me a corn that's sweeter! Can't be done!

And so after my work in the garden...











And after playing with a still ailing Calico in the writer's shed, and of course, after breakfast...






... I hop on behind Ed and we scoot over to Stoneman's.

They're closed. Big sign, telling us that today is a "ripening day."

No! My whole menu for the day, the week, the month falls apart! We need corn. We must head out further, to the next nearest farm.

But not yet. I have a Zoom party with my Polish friends at noon.





Again my friends and I compare notes. They are two weeks before the start of the school year and there hasn't been a decision as to reopening. Poland continues to have a stable but reasonably low infection rate. I'm sure if we had their rate we'd be opening Yankee Stadium and Noah's Ark, the world's largest water park, let alone schools, bars and restaurants! What? We did open Noah's Ark? Ooops. Maybe the pools are filled with soapy sudsy water. Oh well. In any case, Poland is pondering.

Once again I'm thinking how lovely it is to visit with distant friends on a regular basis. We used to wait for in person visits. Not anymore.

And later, much later Ed and I are again riding the motorbike to a farm, this time Eugster's, which is a bigger deal place, since they go beyond selling corn: they have a regular farm store with farm stuff in it. I do not know what stuff, because Ed and I do not enter stores. The Eugster corn is sold separately, under a tent and they will do curbside pick up if you ask for it.

It's a 15-minute ride, but oh, what a ride it is! I think it shows off our rural lands well! A few photos for you:



























I should have taken an evening walk, but everything outside is so dry that I relented and finally turned the hose on the garden. Not for long and not comprehensively. Just enough to make me feel better! In doing that, I was rewarded with an evening garden view.






I don't have to tell you what we had for supper. Some protein, some greens, and corn. Lots of sweet corn. From this truck:





Delicious.