It's March, The Sap is Running . . . All is Good in the World

It's March, the sap is finally running and all is good in the world!

March means winter is nearing an end and, while there is still tons of snow and we're still enjoying some of the best skiing of the winter, we locals start to think about an end to the long winter and the beginning of our all-too-short "green" season. This is especially true when - on a day like today - the sun is bright, the sky is crystal clear and beautifully blue and we've had a string of cold nights followed by warm days. All this means that Vermont's quintessential sugar maples have or will soon begin to produce the world's best sap. And, after hours of hard work, lots of laughter, good times with family and friends, and a few near catastrophes later, you will have altered gallons of sap into quarts and pints of liquid gold: Maple Syrup.

My day today began with that all too coveted call from our neighbor Ann with the news that the sap is running and they're going to begin collecting this afternoon and the sugar house (AKA The Cabana) will officially open for business tonight! Hip hip hooray. In locals' words, "They're BOILING."

Today is the beginning of about 4-6 weeks of good fun for us neighbors. Somehow I thankfully manage to stay away from the mucky job of collecting the sap and have assigned myself the role of cheerleader and sustenance provider. I'll bring drinks and snacks while the guys (and gals) do the hard work!

Years ago, when I was working for then Senator Jim Jeffords, I played softball for his Senate team. The name of the team was the Vermont Saps and our t-shirts featured a graphic of the State of Vermont with the words "40:1." We wanted people who were stupid enough NOT to ask what that meant to assume that it was our win:loss record, but in truth 40:1 is the ratio of sap to syrup. It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup! As I said, lots of hard work.

Part of the reason I think so many of my friends have chosen to live in this neck of the woods is that we get to experience the true joy and camaraderie that comes from events like this. Neighbors come out to play and talk, folks of every age group work together, we share tales of our long winter and we open our fridges and coolers to share food and grog. There's a place for everyone and everyone is welcome.

Off to the boil . . . see you soon.