Corn Fest 2022

Last year we missed the Fawcett's annual celebration of sweet corn due to our regularly scheduled beach trip which had migrated from allowing a week in-between Iowa and North Carolina to not (stupid Gregorian calendar). Faced with a similar conflict this year, we decided to just rent a different house on a later date in order to allow our attendance and opening the door for Allen's reclaiming the corn-eating title that had since passed to Allen's cousin/nemesis Thomas.

It was kind of a magical corn fest: the weather was perfect; the wildflowers were at their peak; they added a second swing; additional safety features were installed at the zip line, making it "mom approved" for the under-18 crowd; all eight of the original Fawcett cousins (Martha, John, Nan, Dick, Ken, Jim, Margie and Becky) were in attendance; and for the first time in a long time, the celebration aligned with the Fawcett sweet corn harvest, meaning that only Fawcett corn was on the menu this year. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was that one of Thomas's crew tested positive for COVID shortly after arriving resulting in their departure prior to the days events (though, that did break the competition wide open...).

Allen won the corn-eating contest. Owen opted not to compete since he's have to go against his father, but did manage to eat 10 ears of corn (albeit at a far more leisurely pace). Dad successfully defended his title as the oldest person to jump off the high dive and may also have achieved divinity. Nora invented a new approach to making s'mores. And for the first time ever, we all (including the kids) got to be part of the sweet corn production team.

It made for a pretty magical weekend – and we still have another one to go!

(To see all of the sweet-corn pictures, click here.)