Wednesday, February 24, 2021

First real test of the Maple syrup Season


 We started tapping this week (a week later than last year) and it took five of us over three days to get 1100 taps into the sugar maples. I loved being in the woods even though it was barely over 25 degrees.


On the third day there was a snowstorm, but the trees effectively sheltered us from the rage out on the roads. I joke that I am dad's apprentice...

But seriously, it means the most to me out of this experience, to be able to learn from my dad and spend days at a time helping him on this passion project. At nearly 85 years old, he is full of stories explaining remnants of old fence lines and rutted fire lanes. He moves with grace through the depths of the snow and over the limbo lines in a way I only aspire to. (Thank goodness for my Swiss semester training last fall!)


Of course there are the hardware glitches, the batteries run dead, and the leaking lines thwart a steady vacuum. But I have returned to the studio to paint the bark, branches, wind and snow along with the glimpse of hawks, ravens, foxes and deer. It's a wonderful life. And it is getting sweeter, literally, by the moment! 

We are selling bottles of pure Maple syrup though my website store in single 8oz bottle or bundles of 5 and 10. Domestic shipping included in the flat rate. Email me and let me know how it tastes. 

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                                FEATURED PAINTING- 9" oval, acrylic on wood panel

On my easel today as I recall, kind of abstractedly, two days ago, when we were tapping trees in the maple forest during the snow storm! Could call it the "Sugar Bush Snowstorm". I am still wondering if I should add a third figure, Michael, in the lower left. Feel free to let me know what you think.



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