The Look

The old calendar flipped over from January to February and it gets me to thinking about spring. I know its still winter and we have a ways to go yet. It’s just that you tend to think that you have rounded the bend when you get into February. One thing that does happen in February, around here, is the beginning of the maple syrup season. Michigan is big into maple syrup producing about 90,000 gallons per year and ranking sixth in the nation among the producing states. It’s a $2.5 million dollar cottage industry! The wife and I were at a birthday party this past week at our friend’s house, out on Long Lake. Peter, one of the guests, is into maple syrup among other things. The last time I had seen Peter was at another birthday party this past summer. Somehow, back then, the conversation came up about maple syrup. Peter and I got into a long conversation on the topic over the birthday cake. I knew little about the subject and quickly became interested. I don’t know why but harvesting things from nature like berry picking and mushroom hunting have always fascinated me. Maybe because it’s like a treasure hunt or because it’s free for the taking. Well, Peter remembered our conversation from last summer. We sort of picked up where we left off and before I knew it the wheels in my head were spinning. Peter explained that the tapping of the trees would start soon. He mentioned that if I wanted to try it this year, he could loan me the buckets, taps, and maybe a barrel to store the sap in. Visions of my own label on the bottles began to bounce around in my head. We could use them for gifts next Christmas! It was then that I noticed my wife, across the table, giving me “the look”. Men everywhere know what “the look” is. She joined into the conversation at this point and asked Peter how many gallons of maple sap it took to make a gallon of syrup. Peter replied that it took about 50 gallons. Then he explained that he had some Amish friends who cooked the sap down for him and in return they kept half of the syrup. The numbers started bouncing around and my wife quickly pointed out that I would need to gather 100 gallons of sap to wind up with one gallon of syrup. This is when I got “the look” again. All she said, with a smile on her face is, “What are you think’in Lincoln?” It kind of looks like I will shelve the maple syrup scheme for this year. It does seem like a lot of work for a gallon of syrup. I have seen the light and will be buying my supply of maple syrup this year, maybe from Peter. Wherever I get it from, I know it will be Pure Michigan Maple Syrup and I’m sure not going to gripe about the price. © 2007 Edward E. Hungness

 

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