The State of the Corn

Those of us who live in the Midwest can all agree that the weather here is crazy.  This year seems to have been crazier than most.  We had an entire week of 80+ degrees in March, then nasty, seriously-below-freezing cold in April, then a summer that was so hot and dry it rivaled that notorious summer of '36 that I remember my grandparents talking about.  Reports have been trickling in that the Midwest's corn crop has been decimated this year due to the excessive heat and drought conditions.  After spending some time at Mom & Dad's, I can confirm how bad it really is:

The corn is quite literally dying in the fields.  It's not supposed to be brown and bent over at this time of year.  The ears of corn on the stalks are small and shriveled.

There are a lot of "gloom and doom" people out there who are predicting food prices will soar because of this drought.  I actually see a potential silver lining in this.  "Field corn," as Iowans refer to it, gets harvested, processed, and put into processed food:  everything from cereal to bread to veggie burgers (xantham gum is the "glue of choice" that holds all those veggies together in burger form, and one of the key ingredients in xantham gum is a corn derivative).  I think if the price of processed food skyrockets because of this drought, it may be just the thing to turn people back to cooking fresh, unprocessed food.  That would be a good thing.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Last year at this time, we were getting slammed with one of the worst blizzards in Chicagoland history.  Honestly, after three consecutive years of 50+ inches of snow, I have enjoyed this year's reprieve.  Here's a picture I took of parsley that's still growing in my herb garden from last summer.

Snow Globe Sleepover

Tonight Erin invited her XC buddy H over for a sleepover.  I've never seen two teenage girls so enthusiastic about snow, ever.  In fact, I think they very well may be the only ones in the country who are still enamored with snow this late in February.

I'm not sure who came up with the term "sleepover," but I've always considered it an oxymoron.  "Overnight hang out" is a much more accurate term for what teenage girls do when they're together past 11pm.  Tonight was a perfect case in point.  Erin and H started making banana bread at 11:30.  A couple of hours later they realized it was snowing big, giant flakes outside.  They decided to place themselves directly into this middle-of-the-night-snow-globe moment, and they captured their play on film:

Erin's enjoyed every moment of this, the snowiest February on record.

At least someone is!

Ready to Move On

This is the view out my front porch:

This is how I feel about it:

'Nuf said.

Winter Wonderland

I woke up this morning to the first snowfall of the season:

It's starting to feel more like Christmas!