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.