Let the drip begin

March 9, 2013 – Saturday

33 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I was up at 4 this morning and after putting wood in the stove, returned to bed. Two hours later, the alarm was ringing. I guess I’m still catching up on sleep.

Has anyone seen Sargie's van?

Friday was a good day on Pentoga Road. With the temperatures rising to the upper 30’s, I decided to tap twenty trees. It’s still too early and I don’t expect the sap to run for another week, possibly ten days, but I wanted to get a start and probably will tap a few trees each day until the season officially begins. And when will that be? Only Mother Nature knows for sure. Usually, it begins around the third week of March.

The tools of the trade: gallon storage bags, a claw hammer, garden twine, a drill, and the spouts.

After tapping, I decided to go over the trails I made two weeks ago. It all went well until I managed to get stuck in the south woods. I used my feet to compact the snow, turned the snowmobile around, and promptly ran out of gas. For supposedly being older and wiser, I sure make some bonehead mistakes at times.

I hiked to the barn to get the gas can. Sargie walked back to the snowmobile with me and after getting the machine started, we took a nice ride through the woods. At one point, the snowmobile got off the trail and tipped to one side. The next thing I knew, I was looking at Sargie who was sprawled spread-eagled, face down, in the deep snow. I wish I could have taken a picture. We laughed, got the snowmobile upright, and continued our ride.

The four-wheeler also became stuck at one point due to soft trails. I was hoping they’d been packed enough that I might use the ATV to gather sap. That’s not going to happen. I’m afraid that for this year, I’ll be carrying it to the boiler in five gallon buckets by hand. I’ve done it that way for many years. One more won’t kill me.

A flock of chickadees continually follow me around the woods hoping for a free handout. At one point on Friday, I had two on my hand, one on my shoulder, and another on the bill of my cap. All the while, I was attempting to tap a tree. I'd have it no other way. Who needs a dog when one is surrounded by birds?

While outside, I finished removing the snow from around the shed while Sargie restacked some wood that had fallen over while we were in Louisiana. It was one of those nice days that a person doesn’t want to see end.

We drove to Iron Mountain last night to see Mr. Milligan. While Sargie was with her father for dinner, I went to Home Depot and purchased some new stovepipe and fittings, also two new five-gallon pails and lids. I later joined Mr. Milligan and Sargie at the VA Hospital where we had a good visit.

Elmo the Ermine was also active on Friday. He was chirping at us and playing Hide and Seek as we were working around the sheds.

Sargie’s officially back on the clock today. I’m going to begin assembling the stovepipe and boiler, clean out the sap pans, and might even clean out the barn so I can begin building the greenhouse this coming week because as you well know, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…