Popcorn

"Who wants popcorn?" I asked.

Nobody. Just me.

Okay. I got out a pot, poured some oil in the bottom of it and heated it on the stove top. I poured popcorn in and waited for the popping to commence.

A few short minutes later, the first kernel exploded and hopped out of the pot just as Sydney was getting a drink from the frig.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Popcorn."

She came closer and I showed her the white popping kernels through the clear lid.

"Daddy! You've GOT to come see this!" she yelled.

They both stood and watched in amazement. Apparently, Jim had never popped popcorn this way either.

As luck would have it, I poured too much popcorn into the pot. As popcorn continued popping, it raised the lid off the pot. They thought I was Houdini.

"This is how we made popcorn when I was a kid," I explained.

"Back before microwaves?" Syd asked. She said she thought we had always had microwaves. Jim's family always used a healthier air popper.

"When I was a kid your age, Mamaw would pop a lot of popcorn and would pour it into a big, brown grocery sack. Then, we'd take it with us to the drive in movie."

"Is that like a Red Box?"

"No. And that's a different story."