March 7, 2015 - Saturday
11 degrees/cloudy/calm
Pentoga Road

Well, there goes my quiet time. I hear Baby Grady stirring upstairs and it sounds as though he's rarin' to go for another day. We can't complain, he went to bed last night around 9 and didn't wake until almost 7 this morning. All of us, including Grandma and Grandpa, got a good night's sleep.



Friday morning was spent carving a path through the north maple woods with the snow blower. Actually, it was Luke's idea. He'd sent a picture a few days ago showing a path he'd made in the snow getting to his maple trees. At first, I poo poo'd the idea, but with yesterday's warm temperatures and sunny skies, I decided to give it a try. 

The first thing I discovered is that a snow blower isn't a four-wheel drive vehicle. It's self propelled, but definitely needs some manual help while navigating boulders and downed tree limbs. Still, it either climbed or was steered around most as I slowly made my way around a four-acre area. 



I haven't counted, but there should be access to fifty to a hundred trees to tap. I'll be walking on bare ground while hauling sap.

Honestly, I'm not even sure I'd tap this year if Neighbor Mike hadn't expressed so much interest. He enjoys the sugaring atmosphere, gathering, boiling, tasting, canning, the social aspect, and has an almost Norman Rockwell vision of tapping trees. I am the same.



I think it's the idea of getting something for absolutely nothing other than labor... lots and lots of labor. As a child, I was initially hooked when reading how the Indians made slashes in the maple trees allowing the sap to flow down the trunk and into bark containers. 

It was a few years later, while in junior high, that I was introduced to Norman Rockwell's famous photo/mural. It was then that I became permanently hooked. The fascination carried through into adulthood. 

Norman Rockwell's photo/mural - Sugaring in Vermont

There's just one problem. We have several gallons of syrup left from years' past; the same with pickles and the shelves are still full of the bread and butter variety. It seems we eat them all the time and I've given quite a few away, but maple syrup and pickles are still in abundance. 

With all that being said, there are some things that are beyond reason. With the warmer weather and lengthening of days, the sap will begin to flow in the sugar maple trees of the Upper Peninsula. Need it or not, it'll soon be time to make syrup.



Sargie and Grady came outside to enjoy the nice day. 



We soon dug the sled/sleigh out from storage shed, the same one that Sargie's dad, Mr. Milligan, made some years ago when Sargie's sons were infants. 



As Sargie said yesterday, it's too bad her dad isn't still around. Wouldn't he be proud to see another generation, his great grandson, being pulled in the sleigh he made so many years ago for his grandsons.

Where Grady goes, so does Brutus

I'm not at all sure what's on the immediate agenda. I imagine since Sargie's vacation is almost at an end that we'll be saying goodbye to Grady sometime today.

I know a big, old, ugly, bulldog who's going to miss his buddy

He's a real delight, a spark of pure, innocent, energy, but poor Grandma will probably be happy for a day of relaxation before she heads back to the Vision Center.  

I've had to work to keep the mailbox from being buried in snow this winter.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...