Chief of Operations writes: 3/14/16 The temperature has held near 33 degrees all day and the sap is barely weeping out of the lines entering the sap shed. The temperature is supposed to rise during the night and I know a better run is coming. 3/15/16 I check the sap shed at… Read More
She’s Broke
Poem for Palm Sunday Your bone broke into four pieces, the surgeon said. North south east west Summer, autumn, winter, spring The earth, the air, the fire, the water Return return return return No return She’s broke and won’t ever be just like before. It’s her season of the upper extremity – This whole shattered… Read More
March 17th
QUICK UPDATE: The days blur together. Today is Day Ten of the current boiling marathon. Since there hasn’t been a freezing night since the White Frost, the sap has run around the clock. We’re surprised by the vigor of the run. Chief of Operations is running on vapor from lack of sleep; the crew… Read More
White Frost Wonder
“There was a white frost last night,” said Chief of Operations this morning. “Nason used to love to tell me that. He’d reminisce about some year or other, more than once it was 1952, the sugar season all the old-timers still rave about. He’d say, ‘On March 28th we got a white frost and the… Read More
Could freeze tonight
QUICK UPDATE from the couch: As expected during these milder-than-mild March days and nights, the sap has run continuously since Tuesday, but not with conviction. Today’s crisp air and northwest breeze qualified as sugaring weather, and tonight it is supposed to freeze at last – but then quickly climb out of sugaring weather into the 50’s.… Read More
Go
WEATHER: At 7:30 pm the temp is 61 degrees, Rain is moving in. HOW’S IT RUNNING? So-so. BOILING STATUS: We boiled yesterday evening and again today. The syrup is just delicious. HOW’S THE BROKEN WRIST? Tuesday’s three-hour surgical repair (carpentry? auto mechanics?) went very well. The patient is resting on the couch with her arm propped… Read More
Countdown: 5,4,3,2,1
And Still SUNDAY Maple crowns sunlit and still, Bobcat tracks frozen and still, March air bright and still, Falls Brook a little frozen, a little still, Vacuum pump not on and still, Even the birds mostly resting and still. Walking in the woods, her mind stills. MONDAY And still it’s trying to snow, And still he’s… Read More
Countdown: 5,4,3
WEATHER: Frozen up all week since the February 29th boil. In the forecast: warmth and mud and sap runs. The season is about to break wide open. Stay loose, or hold on tight for a wild ride. FEBRUARY BOILS AND OTHER EARLY STARTS: We read through the logbook all the way… Read More
Leap Year Boil
Coming to you live from the sugarhouse, the Nebraska Knoll crew presents “The Night of the Leap Year Boil.” Sitting to my right is Christian Wayne, no, wait, he is not sitting, he has moved away from the camera to pick up an overflowing pail of hot water by the evaporator. “I don’t know why… Read More
On Ice
WEATHER: Gray and calm, with the temp arcing from 31.5 F to 40 back to 31.5 at suppertime. The fields are bare of snow, but the sugarbush retains a base. HOW’S IT RUNNING? Not well today, although the vacuum pump is on. BOILING STATUS: The first boil of the season occurred on Thursday night,… Read More
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