Marilyn Englander shares why she enjoys corn so much during this time of year.
I grew up in a religious family, except it’s probably not the kind of religion you’re picturing. In a small farming community in the mountains, corn was the predominant faith. Well, corn and tomatoes and peaches.
This time of year, I still get the call and return jubilantly to the flock of the faithful. It’s corn season. In mid-August, I’m just now finding prime local corn in the Bay Area. I won’t touch that days old shipped in stuff. It’s against my religion.
Nowadays, I rely on farmers markets, but the religion I was raised in was more do-it-yourself, the congregation led by my father. We lived in town where my dad ran a drug store and filled all the farmers prescriptions. They saved their best corn for Doc Englander.
He’d send one of us kids to their roadside stand right after they hauled the corn in from the field. We’d tell them, silver queen or bi-color, and we want a dozen ears. They always gave Doc more, but only charged for 12. Then we’d skedaddle home fast to get that corn into the boiling water.
You might even have left the water on the stove while you ran over to the farm. Because if not, the sugar would turn to starch and the corn would be ruined. Practically cow corn or field corn, inedible. A side benefit of corn season is that local tomatoes are finally ripe now too.
And for dessert, there are peaches softening fast on the kitchen counter, surrounded by a cloud of tiny fruit flies. There’s dinner, corn, tomatoes and peaches. Lord help your digestion.
You have to practice a long time to be able to plow through a dozen ears of corn in one sitting. I never made the cut. Otherwise in my family, you’re required to strip the cobs and freeze the kernels right away to have for Thanksgiving. Never dare to waste the treasure of August. Corn season is exhausting. Bless the corn. With a Perspective, I’m Marilyn Englander.
Marilyn Englander is an English teacher and art docent who lives in San Rafael.