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In honor of Elkhorn Truck & Shuck, I wanted to share a champion story about corn. In our rural area that we call home, we see fields and fields of corn. It gets planted. It grows. It gets harvested. For all intents and purposes, corn is a hearty plant. Corn can withstand dry weather, rainy weather, cool weather and even hot weather. Corn is a mighty vegetable which I'm frequently reminded comes from the grass family [thank you to my in-house agronomist, AKA Pat Abbe] and like a dainty blade of grass, wind can sometimes be its downfall.
If you look at the pictures above, you'll see a patch of corn growing in my yard. To the left, the corn was laid completely flat by a large storm in mid-July. The damage is hard to estimate because it takes time to see how the corn will react. "If the wind blew corn over rather spectacularly, the roots of the corn may be pulled from the soil. When root systems lose half their contact with the soil, the term “root lodging” is used. Plants that are root lodged can often regenerate new roots and orient upright on their own, hopefully before pollination." -Gardening Know How, Amy Grant.
Fast forward a couple weeks (pictured on the right) and you can barely tell that the corn was steamrolled to the ground. But if you look at the bottom of the stalks you'll see the slightest curve at their base. This is the only indication that there was damage. Amazing!
When we get knocked down, be it in business or in our personal life, the damage is equally hard to estimate. So much of our recovery has to do with how we respond to the trauma. How and what we are rooted in is a contributing factor as well. Everyone's situations and challenges are different, but what remains is the opportunity to persist and our tenacity to overcome. And just the tenacious stalk of corn, the battle wounds we carry can be difficult to recognize. Word to the wise, never underestimate the person standing next to you and the road they've traveled to be there.
I hope from now on when you drive past a field of corn, you think about how you can actively work towards your goals. Towards recovery. Towards growth. Towards filling out every kernel in your life and being the best cob out there! And if you're weathering a storm, never be afraid to stand back up.
Now that we're fully immersed in a conversation about corn, let's think about submersing a freshly roasted cob of sweet corn in butter and sprinkling it with salt! Let this be your official reminder to come celebrate summer and corn and this great community, that we call home, at Elkhorn Truck & Shuck!
Party starts at 11am in Veterans Park this coming Saturday.
#CornIsCourageous
Kate Abbe
The Elkhorn Chamber
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