There's one that got away. I discovered coyote tracks going into the barn on Monday morning.  He probably lies out in the woods watching the happenings around the yard and doesn't feel threatened at all.

April 16, 2013 – Tuesday

31 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

After Monday’s Patriot Day bombing in Boston, it’s becoming difficult to turn the other cheek to those who would harm America and it’s citizens. I sincerely hope that rather than issuing stern warnings to the group that did this or invade an entire country and stay for a decade or two, we do what needs to be done to eliminate those who would do us harm.

My oldest son, Josh, who is a Lt. Commander in the US Coast Guard, works not far from where the bombs were detonated. He texted his mother, brothers, and me, yesterday saying he’d been home during the bombings.

Still, that was too close. You harm one of my family, then you’re messing with me and the thought of that makes me very angry. I know there are relatives and friends of those who were killed and injured that have much deeper feelings. I hope our country has the guts, the intestinal fortitude, the balls, to find these jackasses and deliver justice.

Monday was spent boiling. The majority of the time, I had both the wood and propane boilers fired up to full capacity. Over five gallons of syrup was sealed in quart, pint, and half pint canning jars by day’s end.

This year’s total: 16 ½ gallons of pure maple syrup. That should be enough to cover a pancake or two.

The wind blew yesterday. At one point, we had gusts over 30 mph, strong enough to break the homemade flue on the wood boiler. With only a few gallons of sap remaining to evaporate, I didn’t try to fix it. Assuming I use the same system next year, a new one will have to be manufactured.

I also placed more fifty-pound cement blocks on the bottom cross members of the greenhouse to assure it wasn’t going to blow away. Just like the Three Little Pigs’ house made of brick, the poly panels heaved in and out, but didn’t fall down.

I’m already beginning to reflect on this season’s sugaring process and thinking about next year. One thing has become obvious; I’m too small to be a large operation and too large to be a small one. I either need to scale back and be satisfied putting out fifty taps and content with an end product of two or three gallons of syrup, or, I need to take steps that will allow me to more easily harvest the sap from 165 or more trees and develop some type of marketing strategy. My mind wants to do the later. My body is saying, “Whoa there! Let’s think about this.”

Whatever, I have ten months to plan and implement next year’s attack on the sugar maples.

When I wasn’t processing syrup on Monday, I was reading and assessing assignments and projects. I’m completely caught up in one class, the smallest, and still have another to tackle. Once that is complete, I’ll begin work on preparation for the summer session.

I also cut up a large pork loin and carefully wrapped the one-inch chops so they won't freezer burn. Sargie and I eat more pork than we do beef and try to take advantage of sales, especially when its offered in bulk. 

I love cutting meat with the same knife that my Grandma and Grandpa Pennington used for so many years. I remember Grandpa sharpening that knife when I was a young boy. In fact, he taught me how to put a fine edge on a "good piece of steel" (his words) with that knife. It's a Chicago Cutlery brand and I imagine it's from the 1920' or 30's. Grandpa couldn't stand a dull knife and sharpened it so frequently that the blade is curved towards the end. I use it often and sharpen it before each use. 

I hope to get back to walking my five miles today. I’ve missed that. As I told Sargie last night, it’s relaxing to plug in the headphones, develop a comfortable gait, and put my mind in neutral. Some people meditate or do yoga. I walk long distances.

Sargie closes tonight and it’s going to be a late day for her. I’ll begin to clean up the mess outside left from boiling. Sargie seems to think that our yard resembles the set of the Beverly Hillbillies BEFORE they moved to California. She might have a point.

C'mon, Sargie... the Beverly Hillbillies? Really? 

The smaller processing equipment is already clean and ready to be put away. The barrels and evaporator pans will have to wait until I can hook up the high-pressure washer. Once everything is clean, it will all be wrapped and placed above the rafters in the barn until next sugaring season.

It’s time to pour another cup of coffee, listen to the news, and think deep thoughts. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

There's still plenty of mud left if anyone wants some