It has been time in the making waiting for tapping. It is neigh. With a double capacity tree, we will be maxing out on the gallonage. In the southern urban areas, the season is short. If time permits, I might even do some offing with cellulose fuel. Maybe just finishing off.
Back at the ole stead we tapped 40 with 100 buckets. Had some good times drawing and boiling. Warm sunny spring days, cool nights just below freezing. Crusty mornings and slushy afternoons. Ideal for the running of the drops. Each bucket 2 gallons, good days we would empty twice a day. You do the math this time.
With guests and the buttered rum and Glühwein flowing time passed pleasantly. We would ski the X country style and shoe the snow style. In the mornings the snow was hard enough to walk on. Times were hard and soft. Fire burning endlessly.
The sweet nectar reduced by 40, thick and sticky when poured on the snow. Great on toast, pancakes, cereal or desserts. The home stuff always tasted better. And we used to grade it with a chart long gone now unfortunately. The farmer down the road hosted the Lion’s pancake breakfast at his bush, hundreds would show up for pancakes and sausage outside in the sunny March days.
We would oft walk there the two miles to avoid the soft shoulder parking which always sucked in a few cars from the townies. You live on a gravel road; you know you never drive near a shoulder in the spring. Facts be as they are, we never drove near the side at any time of year. Just a thing. Spring would rise some corduroy up through the gravel to be graded over later in the thaw.
The budding out would end the boil off. Tart tasting sap only produces similarly flavoured syrup. You can’t take the tase out, you can only strengthen it. Will be fun for the Covid Spring, and hopefully less violent that the Arab one.
Add a little sweet today Cinthia, the French roast needs it.
Mark Hull Du Calumet, First of the coterie of York, Son of Don, Scion of Karl in the House of Pfunkstadt, Connubial of Suzanne, Yeoman to the Hun of Honda, Prevailing in the Seat of Hespeler, Having been again to Australia, and now Grandad's Land, and for some, from The Dark Side. Not am Main nor ab der Elba, but down the Donau, and with Turkish Chai. #garagelurker2019, also A.C.
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