A humble kernel.

It's been over a month since Rick has been in the hospital, had brain surgery and has been home to recover. It's been a few weeks since all six of us have been home together, living side by side in our small two bedroom apartment. Tomorrow will mark the end of our second week of homeschooling an eighth grader and kindergartner with a two year old and six month old in tow. Last week was rough, to state it simply. Rough and trying. This week has been better and today, the best day so far. We didn't just survive today, we lived. All thanks to the humble kernel. Today we made stove top popcorn and it elevated the day in a way I could have never foreseen.

Afternoon came and finally Westley, our almost two and a half year old fell asleep for his nap. I told Natalie to begin reading her second chapter of Winston Churchill's The New World since the home was drastically quieter. As tired as my mind and body already was, I took Finn and Rowan into the second bedroom to nurse the latter to sleep and hang out with Finn. Honestly speaking , while we quietly played with linking toys, I really just wanted to close my eyes and drift to sweet sleep myself. Rowan successfully fell asleep and I realized Finn was having too much fun wanting to laugh and play. I gathered my energies up and said, "Buddy, let me look something up." I went on Pinterest to find just the right recipe to make popcorn on the stove.

Last week I had started Finn on The Playful Pioneers, a literature and projects based curriculum with daily readings from the Little House on the Prairie books. A project for last week was actually to make homemade popcorn (something I've been meaning to do for some time) but we just couldn't manage it last week. That's because it was meant for today, to bring life and delight to us. 

 

We brought over his chair to the counter next to the stove. We went over some rules and we brought out our ingredients and measuring tools. He measured the kernels, cut the butter and poured the oil into a bowl. I turned on our electric stove, made sure the burner was heating up, had him pour the oil into our Dutch oven, and placed four corn kernels in that he counted out for me. We covered the lid and eagerly waited to hear them 'pop' to let us know the oil was ready. We waited. And we waited. We joked, we played, along with Nat who was doing work on the kitchen table. Yet, the kernels never popped. I thought maybe it was the stove, being electric and all. Eventually after quite some time Finn saw that the back burner was actually red! Whoops! I thought for sure I started the right one. I even kept putting the heat higher and higher and for sure felt the heat on without touching the pot! Oh dear, we all had a good laugh at that. 

I put the pot on the right burner and we fell silent waiting to hear those kernels pop and they did! Wes had gotten up from his nap by now (preceded by Rowan who was being held by Nat) and the process began. We all squealed with delight as we poured in the remaining kernels, hearing them sizzle and burst. Through the not completely put on lid, we could see them popping and jumping inside. When it was time, I poured the hot and freshly popped corn into a bowl and put the butter in the still hot Dutch oven. It fizzled and promptly melted. I poured into over the popcorn and with caution and wooden spoons, the boys took turns mixing it all up while Finn and I took turns shaking the salt over it all. 

The boys quickly brought the chairs back to the table, and served themselves. We went into the room where Rick was resting to ask him if he wanted some. We got him a bowl and he came out to join us in our popcorn celebration. This small event yielding not just a wholesome, tasty treat but so much more. In all the ways. As Rick said afterwards, "This really brightened my day."

*Other things I want to remember from today:

• Salty, the squirrel shaped salt shaker (say that five times fast!)
• The 'haunted face' Finn made out of the kernels in the pan
• Franklie, the apple we made a scary face in earlier that Finn named
• Rowan with his first crawl on the bed (trying to get to the pop corn!)
• How truly happy we all were together, how all the current stress seemed to be lifted for the moment
• Chasing the pop corn down with the day's Grapefruit Orange Honey Switchel
• The boys telling me all the shapes and creatures the corn looked like (a mama octopus and bunnies to name a couple)
• How proud Finn was to be such a huge part of it
• How much we all really enjoyed it
• All the other things my heart knows but I'm having trouble putting into words

'Royal opened its iron door, and with the poker he broke the charred logs into a shimmering bed of coals. He put three handfuls of popcorn into the big wire popper, and shook the popper over the coals. In a little while a kernel popped, then another, then three or four at once, and all at once furiously the hundreds of little pointed kernels exploded.

When the big dishpan was heaping full of fluffy white popcorn. Alice poured melted butter over it, and stirred and salted it. It was hot and crackling crisp, and deliciously buttery and salty, and everyone could eat all he wanted to.'

 -- Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder