Corn on the Cob

Kari sat on the living room floor working on a jigsaw puzzle. At thirteen years old she was rather introverted. She preferred puzzles to people. Her younger brother Kurt who was very much the happy-go-lucky, all American boy was working on a project for school at the dining room table. Their father, Ed was also in the living room getting ready for the Baseball World Series to start. It was at a stadium forty-five minutes away. It was exciting to have a local team in the championship series and Ed was looking forward to watching Game one this evening.  He wasn’t a huge baseball fan. His favorite sport was football, but he was an all around sports fan and would find a sport to watch in every season. It was October so baseball it was!

   Suddenly, the floor beneath the family began to move as if waves were rolling underneath them. “Earthquake!” yelled Ed. He stumbled about unsure of where he should be, finally settling into a doorway. Kurt dropped under the table. The proper earthquake response was fresh in his memory from all of the earthquake drills that kids in California have to participate in at school. They didn’t have to worry about hurricanes or tornados, but earthquakes are common there. Kari, the obstinate teen sat as if unbothered by the undulating floor. She looked indifferent as if she were annoyed at having her puzzle interrupted.  She didn’t budge. Soon the earthquake subsided and as the family began to regroup and assess the situation, the power went out.

“Oh man!” exclaimed Ed. “What are we going to do now?” Kurt asked his dad. Even Kari was starting to look a little less irritated and more frightened. “Well now,” said Ed with a little more levity in his voice, “why don’t we BBQ for dinner?” Reassured by his father’s positive attitude, Kurt relaxed and happily skipped out to the backyard with Ed to prepare the BBQ grill. Kari went to the kitchen to ready the meat. BBQ was her favorite type of food and her mom had taught her how to prep the meat and how to cook at an early age. Thinking back on it now, Kari realized that her mother had taught her so many things that it was as if she were racing against time. Kari would understand much later that her mother knew she didn’t have much time and that the cancer would take her before Kari would reach adulthood.

   Kari stepped outside carrying a pan of chicken and tucked under her arm was an old portable radio. “Great thinking Kari!” said Ed, “We can get some news about the quake and maybe listen to the game.” As Kari tuned the radio into a news channel, they began to understand the severity of the earthquake. It had caused major damage all around the city. The power was out in most of the area and even the World Series had been postponed. The news was grave. This was no average California earthquake. This was a 7.0 on the richter scale. It was the strongest earthquake that any of them had experienced before. The kids started to feel uncertain again and Ed read the fear on their young faces. He clapped his hands together and said “I know what we need!” He ran into the house and quickly returned with a few ears of corn. “I’ll grill some corn on the cob for us!” Then to entertain his children he burst into song “Corn on the cob, corn on the cob, let’s all eat some corn on the cob!” Kari was usually embarrassed by her father’s silly antics, but she laughed along with Kurt feeling the comfort her dad was trying to give them both. 

It was starting to get dark by the time dinner was ready so the family ate at the picnic table in the backyard by light of an electric lantern. Neither of the kids were looking forward to going into the dark house and sleeping in their own dark rooms. They both still slept with night lights. Ed knew his children well. “Would you two like to camp out here tonight?” “You mean outside?” Kari asked. “Sure,we can pull the tent and our sleeping bags out of the garage and we can camp out here tonight.” “Yes!” exclaimed Kurt “That’ll be awesome!” They all went together, Ed leading the way to the garage as they went to get their camping supplies. They returned to the yard with a 4 man tent, 3 sleeping bags and a couple of flashlights in addition to the lantern. Kari was feeling more enthusiastic now and helped Ed set up the tent quickly. Kurt couldn’t wait to get in the tent and roll out his sleeping bag. “Hey guys, the grill is still hot, let’s roast some marshmallows.” Ed didn’t wait for a reply but ran into the house with a flashlight and returned with a bag of marshmallows and three skewers. The kids were delighted. It seemed their dad had thought of everything for the perfect camp out. They roasted marshmallows in the cool night air chatting lightly as if it had been a normal day with no earthquakes. 

With their bellies full, the kids settled into the tent for the night. Ed was the last one to retire to the tent with his children. He first made his rounds in the house making sure all the doors were locked and all the light switches were off all except the back porch light switch which he left on so that he would know when the power was restored. 

The family was snug in their sleeping bags and the yard was silent as if they really were out by a lake somewhere far outside the city rather than in their suburban backyard. It was peaceful with no chatter from televisions or radios. 

   Ed lay awake listening to the slow steady breathing of his now sleeping children. He smiled to himself. He had got them through a scary situation with a backyard camping trip. Years later when the kids were all grown up and they looked back on the terrible earthquake of 1989, they would remember delicious BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, marshmallows and a family camping trip in the backyard. Most of all they would remember their dad doing everything he could to keep them from being worried or afraid.