March 28, 2013 – Thursday

10 degrees/clear/calm/cold

Pentoga Road

I had several pictures to include with today's entry, but when I went to retrieve them, they'd disappeared! No doubt they'll show up at a later date mysteriously buried in some obscure file hidden deep within the bowels of the harddrive. Meanwhile...

These are the days that make a maple producer’s heart sing. Cold nights and warm days equal huge amounts of sap traveling up and down the tree in preparation for spring. These days of huge temperature swings allow us to borrow a bit of sap, enough to make maple syrup.

That’s the romantic side of sugaring. Wednesday was spent on the not-so-romantic chore of drilling holes, tapping in the spouts, or spiles, and affixing gallon storage bags with which to catch the sap. I tapped ninety-five trees yesterday for a total of one-hundred, fifteen. Today’s goal is to tap eighty-five more. That will be enough for this first year of retirement.

The sap has barely begun to run. Most bags are holding a few ounces, several are almost full, some have none. It’s going to take several days of above-average temperatures to get them all kick started.

I was going to tap at first light on Wednesday morning, but with the temperature holding at 12 degrees, I decided to take my daily stroll. I did get twenty-five trees done before it was time to go to Iron Mountain with Sargie to retrieve the Blazer. While there, I purchased another twelve cement blocks on which to mount the two-hundred, eighty-five gallon tank and several bags of river gravel.

The gravel was poured in the bottom of boiler and around the area. It will be much less muddy now as the snow around the shed melts.

Tired of tapping trees, I caulked part of the greenhouse late Wednesday afternoon. A person who is tired and whose sight is not the best should never attempt to apply clear silicone caulk around clear panels. It may not be the prettiest, but I believe it’ll be effective. I hope to finish that job today.

Neighbor Mike, who is down from Marquette working on his camp, invited me up for pasties last night. Since Sargie was closing and wouldn’t be home until well past 9:30, I took him up on his offer. We enjoyed an hour of inhaling Yooper meat pie, swigging Dr. Pepper, talking, and guy-time.

Today will be spent tapping and I’ll probably begin gathering sap late this afternoon. It’s unclear when boiling will begin, but I’m guessing it will start on Friday morning. Saturday’s temperatures are forecast to be in the forties and with 200 taps, when it starts, it’s going to pour. Hopefully the man from whom I purchased the tank will be home today or tomorrow. I believe he’s a long-haul trucker.

Sargie’s off today. She’s been working some long hours and is looking forward to a two-day Easter weekend reprieve.

It’s time to get this uploaded and head to the South Woods to tap trees. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…