Summer Memories

When I was a little girl I would get to stay with my grandparents for a week in the summer time. I always had the most fun at their house, they were way cooler than my parents. My granny had a job working second shift at the local nursing home and she would get off at 11p.m. We, my brothers, sister and I would get to stay up until midnight when we rode with my grandpa to pick her up from work. 

I remember shelling peas, shucking corn, picking tomatoes, water melon and helping tend the garden. Those times were for working and sharing. Oh, the laughter! How I miss it! Nobody seems to do these things together as a family anymore. I watched my Granny can and preserve food for years but was only interested in the shelling of the peas and shucking of the corn. As I have gotten older, in my early 40's, I am doing a garden every summer and hope to begin canning once I have gotten the hang of growing enough vegetables to actually be able to. Right now, I only get a couple of handfuls. That is okay, because I am learning more each year that I plant. 

On another note, I was taking my daily walk a few days ago and the smell of corn growing in the field assaulted my senses and my mind flew back to my childhood. Mist was in my eyes as I inhaled the deepest breath I could and remembered my grandma standing in the center of her kitchen over a black canning pot peeling tomatoes to get them ready to can, with her grandchildren laughing at the table as they were shucking corn and Aunt Pat and Sister shelling peas or butter beans. The smell of fresh vegetables picked out of the garden is the smell of summer.