Temperature: 59 degrees
Cloudy skies.
I remember the old saying for March: "in like a lion, out like a lamb." I wonder if today is more lion or lamb? The temperature alone is deceiving. It stormed this morning and if the weather forecast is to be trusted, it will storm again soon. The wind is fierce as it beats against my face and knocks branches from trees. Twigs crash around my feet, sending debris in my eyes and nose. I start to wonder if maybe a walk in the woods today was not such a good idea.
I press on, turning round a bend in the trail when I reach an unexpected sight. Before me, trees are connected by yards and yards of blue, phosphorescent rope. It's like a giant, radioactive spider spun its web in this place. The blue rope is such a jarring contrast to the naked brown trees.
What happened here?
I approach one of the trees and examine it closely. The blue material I originally mistook as rope is actually some sort of tube, about the diameter of my thumb. The bark is punctured in a couple of places and blue piping emerges from the tree like alien limbs. Memories of Little House in the Big Woods suddenly rush back to me. Could these trees be sugar maples? Is the piping a tap?
I look again at the scene before me and realize it looks less like a radioactive spider web and more like a blood bank.
I follow the taps down the trail. The pipes connect and consolidate to form a larger tube that stretches down the hill and into a giant barrel- like the ones people use to collect rain water. This must be were the collected sap gathers.
Smoke rises above the trees, adding more gray to the already cloudy sky. I suspect the smoke has something to do with the sugar maple trees and follow it to its source. A moss covered brown building stands in the distance. It looks like a house though it has no windows and smoke pours from its three chimneys. I draw closer. On the door is a sign that says "Sugar Shack." This must be the place where the collected sap goes to be cooked down into the sugary syrup. Another sign stands by the door advertising the "Beaver County Maple Syrup Festival!"
I recall again the experiences of Laura Ingalls Wilder and compare it to this strange industrialized production of maple syrup. But how else is enough sap gathered to fill grocery stores with maple syrup? How else do the people of Bradys Run gather enough sap to host an entire festival? Is one way better than another? I'm not sure. I think on my strange "behind the scenes" experience with the sugar maples and decide to remember it when I next make pancakes.
Intriguing entry! I liked your internal monologue at the beginning, wondering if you really should be out in that kind of weather.
ReplyDeleteI was also fascinated by the blue tubes in the trees. You did a good job of bringing that confusion and description to the page (or screen, I suppose). Even with the photo, your description of all the blue tubes like a blood bank conjured a really specific image in my mind. I've never heard of collecting syrup that way, but with your wondering at the end I agree: how else can we produce so much maple syrup?
Thanks for sharing your discovery; I certainly learned something new today.
I enjoyed your first few lines with the old saying. I think it helped set the stage for the kind of day you were out walking during. I was also fascinated by the blue tubes. I have heard of the way in which maple syrup is made before, but I have never heard anyone compare it to a blood bank. I thought that was a very interesting connection to make.
ReplyDeleteHi Bethany-
ReplyDeleteI loved the way you wrote this entry as a mystery and allowed us to solve it with you. I have never observed the sap-tapping process before, but recall photographs of buckets hanging on trees. This sounds like an interesting way to go about it. I also liked your comparison of the trees'tubes to a blood bank. Wonder if the tubes will still be there the next time you visit?
We have a sugar maple in our front yard and I've wondered if people collect sap from this species. Such an interesting idea to consider, thanks to your entry. If you do any research, I'd love to hear more about what you find.
ReplyDeleteYour picture is fascinating! It looks as though the tree is having a transfusion rather than supplying sap for maple sugar. Gone are the days of a spigot and a bucket and a steady drip of sap. I wonder if it hurts the tree? In earlier days it was standard procedure to bleed a patient to get rid of the evils humours that were infecting the body. This tree looks like it is being subjected to archaic medical procedures with a blue plastic modern twist.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how you reverted back to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Children's Lit forms so many of our mind pictures and informs us in ways that we can hardly even begin to remember. Thanks for the interesting and picturesque blog!