The Bucket Brigade

Happy news for all those who look for signs that spring is coming, even in the midst of technical (and seemingly never-ending) winter: the taps are in the maple trees at Blackrock.

Hey, it's a more reliable predictor of spring weather than a random large rodent.

We're not doing the big operation with Mr. Jason this year, instead just tapping about a dozen trees right on our lawn. We should get at least a gallon of syrup from that, maybe more if we're lucky. Mostly we're doing it because it's fun for the kids. They helped A. put in the spiles on Sunday morning.

"Helped" being used in the loosest sense here.

Jack helped, too.

By conking out in front of the woodstove so I could go outside without strapping him to me. Good boy.

Yesterday was gloriously sunny and warm (49 degrees! whee!), and the sap ran fairly well. The trees are coming to life. And so are we.