My great grandaddy was a farmer
He was set in his ways
My great grandma said he was a charmer
Always jealous of Edie May

He went on a date with Edie
Way back in 1908
He swore it was only one date
But grandma brings it up each day

I remember asking grandaddy
'What's the box of corn cobs for'
That were sitting in the outhouse
Stacked neatly on the floor

Never ask what the corn cobs are for

I stayed with them for a summer
Back when I was nine or ten
A feather bed was where I slumbered
Photos of ancestors scared me to death

They never smiled or seemed happy
In the framed pictures around the bed
I thought they were watching me
As I laid down to rest my head

Dancing corn cobs haunted my dreams

Grandaddy smoked a homemade pipe
With tobacco he grew from scratch
Told stories of how his great grandaddy
Crossed the ocean on a wooden craft

We rode his tractor across the hills
Rounding up cattle and mended fences
Grandma was in the barn getting milk
Oh how I loved her buttermilk biscuits

I couldn't eat corn on the cob she fixed us

They never owned a television set
No air conditioning could be found
So I caught craw dad's in the creek
My splashing was the only sound

I went back and can't hold it anymore
It's been a few days and I have to go
I stood up and walked out the door
I'd better hurry and not move so slow

Don't ask me what the corn cobs were for