I admit it. I�m a corn snob. I�ll eat Niblets from a can but I don�t consider that real corn. Real corn is still on the cob. Roasted corn on the cob smothered in butter from a stand at state fair is very, very good but even that is not the ultimate in corn. I want my corn picked that morning, still crunchy, not chewy and sugared. I want my corn from a corn stand. I want my corn so good on its own that it doesn�t need to be drowned in butter or salted all over.

And corn season has arrived. The farm stand that sets up in the parking lot of a motel a mile north of here is open and the corn is in. Unfortunately, the corn is not the best corn, but it�s fresh. Unfortunately, the corn is not the cheapest corn, but it�s fresh. The local drought is affecting both the price and the quality of the sweet corn. The corn is more stunted than usual and has fewer kernels but it may be the best we�re going to get. It�s good enough to stand on its own�although a bit of butter might be a good idea.

If I didn�t care so much about the freshness of corn, I could have a lot of opportunities for better looking corn. But corn, like people, books, and tomatoes should not be judged solely on looks. Anyone who judges such things on looks eventually gets what he or she deserves. Judging solely on looks brings regrets�perhaps not now but someday. Pretty corn just can�t match anything but the rattiest kernels of fresh corn.

The best corn I ever had, I had at a day camp overnight when I was eight or nine. A farmer whom the camp director knew let us have sweet corn picked just for us. We took it and cooked it in the campfire that they built. It was cooked almost immediately. A campfire, friends, and fresh roasted corn. Now that�s worth remembering.

I�m not sure how I acquired this sweet corn snobbery. Perhaps I inherited it from my mother. Having grown up on a farm and having tasted fresh corn, she also considers any other type of corn inferior. If I did inherit the trait, my husband has nurtured it. He too grew up on a farm and learned the secrets of fresh picked sweet corn at an early age.

Having tasted the first sweet corn of the season, I�m ready for more. I�m hoping for rain first to improve the rest of the crop.

I�m just dotty over corn. Isn�t that corny?

LAST YEAR: Conscientious Objector

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Copyright 2006 by Ellen