Today, finally a day over 40 degrees. The previous week had been a typical 0-15 degree average, which by now I've felt really accustomed to. Well, this morning was a different story. Beginning with reoccuring gusts of 20 mph it sounded cold, but when I walked outside to feed the pigs I experienced a pleasant reminder that it will warm up, spring will come again.
On a snowshoeing adventure up the Loop Trail, me and my companions were faced with a marooning blizzard as we trudged through soft, melting snow. Coyote tracks and poop were scattered along the trail, which might have instilled some fear in our not to local visitor.
Along the trail the pink markers wrapped around Sugar Maple's just waiting to be tapped filled my heart with the warmth of a lumberjack and the smell of the sap's vapor rising in the air. We finally find our way to the end of the trailhead and there is the sugar shack and a beam of sunlight breaking free of the clouds overhead. This tiny little shack transformed the air of D Acres into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Cords of wood stacked up all around like soldiers ready to do their part when called upon. My hope for this years boil down is for us to be at least 25% more productive. We will have more trees tapped this season compared to last, especially since we didn't even get to use every one that was marked.
On a snowshoeing adventure up the Loop Trail, me and my companions were faced with a marooning blizzard as we trudged through soft, melting snow. Coyote tracks and poop were scattered along the trail, which might have instilled some fear in our not to local visitor.
Along the trail the pink markers wrapped around Sugar Maple's just waiting to be tapped filled my heart with the warmth of a lumberjack and the smell of the sap's vapor rising in the air. We finally find our way to the end of the trailhead and there is the sugar shack and a beam of sunlight breaking free of the clouds overhead. This tiny little shack transformed the air of D Acres into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Cords of wood stacked up all around like soldiers ready to do their part when called upon. My hope for this years boil down is for us to be at least 25% more productive. We will have more trees tapped this season compared to last, especially since we didn't even get to use every one that was marked.
I feel good about these next coming months. Not only is there sugaring coming up, but I will be volunteering at the Vipassana Meditation Center in Shelburne, Mass. A great time for me to get refocused and clear my mind before venturing off to new and unexplored territories.This day felt refreshing. The moonglow echoing off the menagerie of ice as the temperature drops to freezing. Even more now the wind is howling at 35 mph. A midnight stroll to the Creeker and I witness as it inhales and exhales with every sway of the trees supporting it's remarkable structure. You feel every movement of air as if it's alive. Weather like this reenergizes me and reminds me of how powerful and influencing mother nature really is.
Be sure to attend our Maple Sugaring Workshop here at D Acres
March 21 from 1-3 pm ($4-12 sliding scale)
learn how we boil down, tap trees the old fashion way and enjoy a taste of delicious NH sap
See ya there!
Coolio
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