10/17 - MRIs and Corn Field Stories

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
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Eh... just as I thought. “Church Ball” the movie was not a very
good movie. I’ll give it a 1.5 out of 4 boys rating. Of course, I
wasn’t expecting much when we put it in, so I wasn’t ~that~
disappointed.

Tonight our church youth group got together for a combined
activity. We went to Thanksgiving point and went through a corn
maze. I started out with son #1 and #2 just randomly running
around willy nilly, but that got old pretty quick. I decided to go
straight through using the “following your hand on one wall”
theory. It got pretty dark and quiet in the back part of the
field, but I made it out just fine. So did everyone else.



On the way home another leader and I started talking about the
good old days. I told him about gleaning corn from the field for
the horses, how I attempted to bale hay, but was so allergic to
hay dust that I thankfully got out of that job! Then I told him
that for a couple of summers after I turned 12, my sister and I
worked for Pioneer Seed Corn Company detasseling corn for $1.25 an
hour. Ha... Now I can just see 99% of you are saying to
yourselves, “What in the world is detasseling corn?” Well, here’s
a good explanation;

Corn detasseling is the crucial last step in producing
hybrid corn seed. It involves removing the pollen-producing
top part of the plant, the tassel, so the corn can't
pollinate itself. Instead, pollen from another variety
of corn grown in the same field is carried by the wind,
pollinating the detasseled corn. The result is corn
that bears the genetic characteristics of both varieties
and can produce healthier crops with higher yields.
Despite technological advances in agriculture, detasseling
is still a task that for the most part is done by hand.

Here’s an article about detassling.

Detassling is was hard hard work. But it certainly taught me a
lot. I almost wish that there were more opportunities like that
around here so I could ‘encourage’ my kids to participate. Maybe
that’s why I’m such a willing participant in our Stake Farm
assignments.

Enjoy today’s Jokes!
Marty

p.s. Tomorrow is Son #4’s big day. He has a hearing test, brain
MRI, full spine MRI, and a lumbar puncture. Then he has more tests
on Thursday. Keep us in your prayers tomorrow; it’s going to be a
long day.


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One day a cowboy walked into a blacksmith shop and picked up a
horseshoe, not realizing that it had just come from the forge. He
immediately dropped it and jammed his hand into his pocket, trying
to act as if nothing had happened. The blacksmith noticed and
asked with a grin, "Kind of hot, wasn't it?" "Nope," answered the
cowboy through clenched teeth, "it just doesn't take me long to
look at a horseshoe."

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On my birthday I was cutting the lawn when my teenage son came
home from a baseball game. Seeing me behind the mower, he
exclaimed, "Oh, Dad, you shouldn't have to mow the lawn on your
birthday." Touched, I was about to turn the mower over to him when
he added, "You should wait until tomorrow!"

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I eat my peas with honey
I've done it all my life
It makes the peas taste funny
But it keeps 'em on my knife
Anon.

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During our first three days at Lackland Air Force Base in San
Antonio, we were herded from place to place for haircuts, shots
and uniforms. Back in our barracks, the drill instructor told us
to put on our uniforms and fall out in front of the building. Some
of the uniforms, however, were extremely large. As we filed
outside, the sergeant stood by the door with his assistant. "We
have to take some of these people back for refitting," he said.
"That last man took two steps before his uniform moved."