Winter Vestiges - Part ½

While snow hides furtively behind rocks


and recedes from the sunshine like sea foam on an island shore


new things,
spring things,
are happening.


Brent has tapped five birch trees for sap.
The boy wants syrup.


Mr. Feil is pouring the sap into containers that will be easy to transfer.
I stuck my finger into the stuff for a try.
It looked, smelled and tasted like water.
It will have to be strained and cooked down before
its flavour emerges and pancakes can enter the picture.


The spring sap is flowing fast so once a day someone has to
check the trees and empty the cartons otherwise they would overflow.
Care is taken to choose trees that are old enough to handle the process
and afterwards the tap wound is sealed up to prevent disease
and ensure that the tree is alive and strong for years and years to come.


These trees are thinking very hard about leaves, I just know it!


Last years' aren't working so well.
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