3/15/08

Saturday, 8:30 AM. 17 degrees, barometer up, predicting fair weather. Wind NE, light to moderate. Skies overcast.
Andy and Judy Larsen were our guests last night, and we all got up early for a good breakfast, as they are on their way to camp to get things organized to start tapping trees for maple sugarin’. As I understand things it takes cold nights, below freezing, and a sunny, warming day to produce a good sap run. I will go out and help tap trees this afternoon, and we will see what the week brings.
Exactly how and why maple sap flows while the trees are still dormant remains one of the unsolved mysteries of nature. Lots of theories, little proof. We will discuss it as the season’s experience unfolds, but we probably won’t come up with much new information as it has been investigated for over a hundred years by far better minds than we are likely to assemble around the camp fire.
I do believe there must be something addictive either in the product or the process of maple sugarin’, and Andy is certainly hooked, as he was up sitting in the dark at 5:30 AM looking out the window, waiting for it to get light, which it did not do until almost 7:00 AM, and then it was only gray and murky out. We were all cursing daylight saving time by the time breakfast was over.
Walking with Lucky this morning a crow flew over with a large twig in its beak, evidently to serve in nest building . Another sign that spring is just around the corner.