-Isms: Views on life in rural America

While reading Paul Hammel’s “All Things Nebraska” column, I had to chuckle — and wonder how many of us spent our youth detasseling corn.

Hand raised, even if only for two summers. If you’ve ever walked those long rows, ripping tassels out, you know about corn sweat.

That suffocating heat made early mornings rough. Add a layer of center pivot water, and you’ve got the perfect mix of hot and humid.

Detasseling meant climbing on a school bus before sunrise, long-sleeved shirts soaked in dew, and corn cuts on your arms. But it also meant home by noon, afternoons at the pool, and a minimum wage che...