Later this morning, we will take the third step indicating that the 2013 syrup season has begun--firing up the evaporator. We tapped on Tuesday and Wednesday and collected 120 gallons of sap late yesterday. The snow was sticky late in the day and we were breaking trail as we wound our way through the sugarbush. Managing a five gallon bucket on each arm while navigating the snow field made the effort quite the chore.  I take some consolation knowing that the trails between tapped trees and the bulk tanks will firm up with repeated use and make the task a little less challenging. Snowshoes continue to be the "uniform of the day" with at least two feet of snow remaining in the woods. After a couple of weeks of hauling sap, I begin to wonder if my sleeve length is longer and my height is even shorter than they were previously. One of these years, I may even be able to scratch my knees without bending at the waist.

This photo was taken last week as we tackled some of the prep work in anticipation of the season. Some folks came to work; some came to hang out. By the way, there is a box of dog biscuits on the counter in the sugarhouse kitchen. Help yourself.

The taps are in--all 200. Rick and I worked at this task over the past two days. Temperatures are moderating--daytime highs in the low 40's. The consistency of the snow was markedly different today--sticky. It took some extra effort to move around the sugarbush with today's conditions. This 67-year-old body feels it. I recovered quickly from yesterday's effort, so I am hopeful that I will recover from today's effort. The evaporator was rinsed and assembled. The last section of stack, that is removed each year to avoid wind damage, was put into place. We are ready.

It is time for the magic to begin. Let the magic begin.

A week and a half have passed and we are still just thinking about tapping trees. Daytime highs range from the high teens to mid-twenties. Eight inches of new snow overnight and through this morning driven by high winds not only cancelled school for the day, but kept the tapping crew out of the woods. The Twin Ports weather man warned us about -20 degree windchills tomorrow morning. The wait continues. During the next day or two we can snowshoe out  to the sugarhouse and shovel out (for the third time) the front and rear entrances along with the paths to the woodpile and the outhouse and the stand for the bulk tanks. We don't keep records of snow depths in the sugarbush, but I judge the current snow depth to be the deepest in the 10 years that we have been at this adventure. This year will most certainly mark the latest start to the syrup season.

We probably should be in the woods tapping trees this weekend. Our experience has shown us that the weekend closest to St. Patrick's Day has been the usual start of our syrup season. Breaks in the weather of two or three days duration prior to that don't really get the juices flowing. We also propose to keep an eye on the weather forecast, so that if a real break in the weather is approaching we can adjust our dates. It always seems to be a flat out gamble. We thought about tapping this weekend and even made some plans to do so, but then we backed off. The weather is milder than predicted, so I find myself rethinking the plan, the revision, and the update.

Over the years, experiences, like making maple syrup, have convinced me that I do not have a personality conducive to farming. I would be thinking and rethinking every decision based on some guesstimation of the coming weather, the price of a commodity at some future date, and the choice of cultivar or species for my geographical location. I don't know if I would have long ago turned to drinking, but I do know that I would have been even more impossible to live with. I don't think I would chosen to live with myself under those circumstances. Maybe I did make that choice without being fully conscious of its dynamic at the time.