Friday Commute

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011It was on my journey home from work that it became crystal clear that spring has arrived.

Sugaring season is here!

All along my route Maple trees had been tapped and the gentle “tink, tink” noise of drops of sap against the bottom of pails could be heard.

Maple syrup is magical. Simply collect the sap from Sugar Maple trees and then boil until the density is just about right, and voila! Maple syrup. Not only is it a 100% natural sweetener, it also has a beautiful flavor that nothing else in the world compares to.

And if maple syrup bores you, you can just take it, boil it a little longer, pour it over the snow in swirls and then eat the taffy-like result with a fork right out of the snow.

Or boil it a little longer, stir it while it cools and make yourself some maple butter.

Or boil it a little longer and make maple candy. I told you maple syrup is magical!

The sap runs best when the temperature remains below freezing during the night but soars above freezing during the day with the aid of the early spring sun. We hope for a good run of those temperatures so that there will be a successful sugaring season. The sap is collected from the trees and taken to sugar shanties which are basically sheds where wood fires are kept burning brightly to boil the sap. I will try to remember to take a picture of a sugar shanty tomorrow.

We are fanatical about our maple syrup around here. The syrup we make in our area is the best in the world and if anyone tries to argue otherwise, we just laugh and shake our heads because we know the truth.
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To work (10 miles)
3:35 am to 4:40 am
Weather
17F, 10 mph Southeast wind

From work (10 miles)
3:20 pm to 4:25 pm
Weather
41F, 13 mph Southeast wind

18 thoughts on “Friday Commute”

      • Yes I did. I have a cottage North of Toronto and spend 1-2 months in the summer/fall every year cycling and always return with a few jars of maple syrup for pancakes. We like to think ours is the best in the world.

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      • Nice!
        But I really do think our syrup is better than yours, for purely scientific reasons, naturally. I would never let bias sway my judgment!

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  3. When I was a kid (50s and 60s) maple syrup was what you put on your pancakes. Then cheap corn-based alternatives pushed maple syrup off the shelves. What a shame. It’s great stuff.

    I stayed in a sugar shanty in the Adirondacks for Independence Day weekend in 1977 (I think). The next day we did a hike (my very first) to the top of Mount Giant of the Valley and ate PB&Js while dangling our feet over the edge of the summit and gazing at the Champlain Valley below. Magic.

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    • I love that you remember the details of that day, it must have been pretty special.

      My mom was raised on fake syrup (she grew up in New York City) and us kids were shocked to learn that she actually prefers that to the real stuff. Mind blown.

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      • My first hike. The guy leading the hike would get us to the top of one hill and say, “We’re not done yet. We’re going to that one over there.” Down we’d go. Up we’d go. Then he’d do it again! I had a blast. I am really looking forward to doing some hiking down here this spring and summer.

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    • I endorse the maple syrup part, but to put it in coffee? Even the magic of maple syrup cannot cure the nastiness of coffee.

      I have a deep, unexplainable dislike for coffee, I still refuse to believe that anyone actually likes to drink it 🙂

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