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March 02 Spring has sprungBoy, it's been a busy week. We were blessed to have a grand child born on Wednesday. She is beautiful. Now we're blessed to celebrate the signs of new life and spring here in Western PA. Despite the cold temperatures, we decided to tap the maple trees this weekend. As we walked in the woods, we saw skunk cabbage polking through the leaves. Even though skunk cabbage isn't exactly edible or nice smelling, it is quite beautiful and unusual. It's one sure sign spring is here.
We stopped at our first tree and got out the drill. We use a hand drill because it makes no sound, we like the peace of the woods. I watched as my teenage daughter put the drill to the tree, centering her drilling above a large root in order to get the best flow of sap. I'm reminded of the many years she galloped and played in the woods with her brothers and sisters as we tapped trees. They'd all take their turn sipping sap from the newly placed spiles and skip off to play again.
She drilled into the tree with practiced skill, going into the tree about 2 - 3 inches and then drawing the frass out by moving the drill in and out of the hole. She picked up a thin twig, using it to remove the rest of the frass and smiled as the sap poured out of the tree and down the trunk. "Give me a spile" , she said. Her father handed her the stainless steel spile and the hammer. Tapping gently, she put the silver tube in firmly. The sap began to drip steadily out of the spile. She bent down and sipped the sap. "Mmm, good", she said smiling.
We hung a bucket and placed the lid. The familiar "ping" of sap dripping into the bucket is a sound I love. We moved on to the next trees, taking turns drilling. We all sipped the sap as it came off the spile. Finally cold but happy, we stood back and looked at the woods. Spring has definitely come, again. TrackbacksThe trackback URL for this entry is: http://biggreenplanet.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2750EECCE3D2D2F6!302.trak Weblogs that reference this entry
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