Sugarhouse talk of spring beauties started with Larry. On Monday evening when he emerged from the woods after a day of pulling taps he said, “The spring beauties are primping for The Ball. They’re trying on their finery and practicing their twirls.” On Wednesday he announced, “The Spring Ball was today!” On Thursday, when my… Read More
All of a sudden, Summer
WEATHER: If you live in the East you know that it feels as though we skipped April and even May. It could be June. April is called “the cruel month” since just as you reach for the garden trowel a storm will dump a foot of snow which melts to muddy slush. The ragged, jerky… Read More
That Damn Bloody Taste
WEATHER: In a general sense, the pattern continues of Freeze, Thaw, Freeze, Thaw – in chunks of a few days each rather than in chunks of hours (freeze-by-night, thaw-by-day). Last night’s freeze was the last in the forecast. HOW’S IT RUNNING? The run of 3/30-3/31 was by far the best of the season. The current… Read More
Yikes, it’s a real run this time
Quick Update: A blustery winter’s day followed by a good freeze last night set up the maples for a hard sap run today. At 11pm the run is scarcely letting up. As March’s Worm Moon rose we embarked on morning chores which can’t wait until morning. We lined up crew for early morning, all-day, and… Read More
Weathering the Thaw
WEATHER: Sunny, calmWarm then hot –Smell of earth Hotter eachday, hottereach nighttime Coolness flowsoff the brook,ice is out No thunderof snow meltdown the brook Nor flood ofspring runoff –Little fuss. HOW’S IT RUNNING? Since Saturday the run has choked off just once, on Monday night (low 24). On two nights the temp at the sugarhouse… Read More
The Talk of the Sugarhouse
Woodshed ChroniclesPoet Chatter Aud Coty pulls on leather gloves, opens the French doors into the woodshed, loads her arms with chunks of wood, walks into the sugarhouse and drops them on the woodpile by the firebox. She’s wearing a navy wool sweater many sizes too large over jeans patched on the knees. A visitor with… Read More
Vernal Equinox Update
Here is a quick update on the status of sugar season. WEATHER: March 15: Frozen.March 16: Frozen.March 17: High 46 and sunny. Overnight low 34.March 18: High 40 and drizzly. Overnight low in the teens.March 19: Frozen. Sharp wind. March 20: High mid 40’s and sunny. Low tonight will probably be in the 20’s. Forecast… Read More
A Pilgrim Run
WEATHER: The heat of the thaw hit on Wednesday and Thursday, 3/10-3/11. Wednesday’s high was 48 in the shade, Thursday’s was 56. Nights were mild; the wind blew from the south, turning around to the north on Friday 3/12 as temps dropped to below freezing by evening. HOW’S IT RUNNING? The sap run eventually picked… Read More
Traveling with dogs or trees
“Mushers like to travel at night when it’s colder and the trail is firm,” says the video host, reporting from a checkpoint on the Iditarod https://iditarod.com/. Possibly because I have not traveled, in the sense of taking a trip, for a long while, this past week I signed up to follow the Iditarod. Sugar season… Read More
The Pot That Never Boils
On Sunday morning Chief of Operations wrote: Sunday’s Threelittle (Tri-Cube) Corner:[Three syllables per line; three lines per stanza; three stanzas per poem] Connect hoseto the nextby the shed. Pull back thenpush til thefitting clicks. Takes strength, takesfinesse, takesrepeating. ——— Write to meof March orthe full moon. Write to meof drizzleor blossoms. Write to mebecause Iam… Read More
