Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Corn Cob War


     Back in the late fifties entertainment was where you found it.  In the hot August days just before school, it did not take much to entertain us.  By that time the red wasps were so wound up that if you went anywhere close to their nest, they would attack.  I think it was the hot sultry days of Dog Days, but it could also be that by that time they were tired of being picked on.  We had a ready supply of corn cobs at our disposal and by that time the crops were not needing attention.  Benny and Kenny Nowell, my brother Benny and I would gather a quantity of cobs to use as weapons.
     Getting stung was unpleasant, but the one with the most stings at the end of the day had bragging rights.  We were careful not to let Granny catch us throwing cobs at the wasps.  She would give us hell and then if were stung, she would cover the sting with her snuff.  I don't know if that helped the sting or the wet spit took our mind off  the pain.  Grandpa liked for us to knock the nests down, for it helped him not to be stung so often.  Any way we had a grand old time fighting the wasps.
     This was my grandfather's barn that he built in 1957.  It still stands today, but is in bad condition.