What it all boils down to

As I was leaving work on Thursday a co-worker, upon wishing me a good weekend, told me to "go make steam".  At forty to one, steam is certainly the biggest product we make; too bad we can't bottle that.

On the other hand, we did bottle up a gallon and a half on Thursday night, and are on course for another gallon and a half or so this weekend.  Friday morning saw us leveling our haphazardly placed evaporator after it sank into the mud again, repairing a frozen pipe (below freezing is good for sap production but wreaks havoc on equipment) and constructing a more permanent finishing station.

Tax season definitely comes at the wrong time for us.  I normally do our taxes (with substantial help from TurboTax, since just looking at a tax form makes my eyes water) but this year's are all about expenses and depreciation and farms and such and... I don't even want to talk about it.  But it does mean that I have to cart all of our receipts and my vague understanding of IRS code to an accountant, who will most likely laugh and say "this is easy!"  I do that today.  While I'm out I'll go get propane canisters for the lanterns, new battery packs for the walkie talkies, new carrying containers for the sap.  Sugaring is never far from our minds.

A few days ago I was stringing another line in the bright morning March sun.  The sap was flowing as I was trying to attach the lines and I was getting soaked.  Suddenly I heard light wings above me and saw two pileated woodpeckers right above my head.  They are huge and ancient, dinosaurs.  They come back every year this time of year and perch in our old sugar bush.  They perched for a while, calmly, and I stared up at them.  Finally I went back to work and they flew off to find a more quiet tree.  It's those moments, the fleeting moments where blue sky meets red feathers on a gray tree, that are the most precious.  And maybe that's what it really all boils down to.

tags: maple