Heirlooms and Serenity

'Tis the season!

No, I didn't grow a single one of these babies.

The few tomato plants I had in the garden were obliterated by deer.

Yes, deer.

Jumped over THREE fences to get to my own 'maters.

Determined, hungry deer.

Deer whose food source and habitat has been destroyed by human development and "progress."

Who can blame them for eating my garden??

It is our fault they have no food to forage for in the "wild."

Since there is no longer any "wild" left.

I lucked upon these at a farmer's roadside stand in front of his house.

"Man, sakes alive," I said to the farmer, "How do you keep the deer out of your garden?"

"Yellow ribbon," he told me.

He strings three  yellow ribbons all around the permeter of his garden and the deer stay out.

I'll try it!

I came home, took a plumb, juciy red tomato out of the bag.

I peeled and sliced it.

Got out the salt shaker.

And had me a feast eating with my fingers from the cutting board and standing beside the kitchen counter.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Then I took an ear of corn out of the bag.

I had stopped at the stand for his tomatoes.

But while I was there, I noticerd all the ears of corn he had, still sitting in the bucket of his tractor.

"It has both white and yellow kernels," the farmer told me.

"It's called Serenity," he said.

"I need some Serenity!" I told him, "I'll take some of that!"

He laughed politely.

I guess he hears that all day long when one of us serenity-longers (there are a lot of us around here) stops by and buys his corn.

Lord knows.

Serenity is exactly what I've been looking for.

Serenity is why I'm getting out of Dodge.

So after the tomato feast.

I pulled a cob of corn out of the bag.

Still in the husk, I placed it in the middle of the micowave to cook for 3 minutes.

Beep!

I peeled off the husk and Oh dear, found cooked worms in the tassle.

Sorry, worms, I had forgotten about worms in the end of home-grown cobs.

For a moment I felt bad for the worms.

I hate killing creatures of any sort.

I removed that part of the cob and sliced beautiful, bright, crisp yellow and white kernels right off the cob with a sharp knife.

And I had me some Serenity!

I ate it with my fingers from the cutting board, standing beside the kitchen counter.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

It was 10 o'clock in the morning.
Summer's here for sure.
Eating 'maters and corn before noontime...