Sitting in our car, my mom was getting madder by the second. The border crossing was moving slowly. It seems we always pick the slow lane. Chris, my mom and I watched each car in front of us hand their passports out the window to the officer at the USA-Canada border crossing and sit there answering a succession of questions. As I handed our passports to a stern looking woman she began the usual robotic list of questioning with the first, “Citizenship?” followed by, “Where are you going?” I replied, “We’re going to my Uncle Tom’s for a spring Maple Syrup Party.” A smile broke across her face as she nodded her head and her only other question was how much alcohol we were bringing. We were then free to pass.
Before living in Vermont I didn’t give too much thought to maple syrup. To me syrup was syrup – thank you Aunt Jemima – over processing and the massive infusion of high fructose corn syrup in everything. It was in Vermont where I first learned about the different grades of syrup and the value of maple syrup, or liquid gold as those that make a living from maple syrup call it. When the chance came to go to a maple syrup SAP party, visit some family and make some new friends, I jumped at the chance.
As a kid, going to my Uncle Tom’s and Aunt Rosie’s was always the best. An outgoing and energetic family with three kids – lifewas always lively. As adults, this has evolved into a growing crowd of carpenters, artists, extroverts and eccentrics. From a Burning Man, live band, sledding and great food, here is a look as the Vagabond Way enjoys a Maple Syrup SAP party Canadian style.
Moving barrels of collected sap around.
Whoa – we’ll be making some syrup today!
Collecting fire wood.
In the woods it was very icy, I was only driving this thing in low 4WD gear. It took twenty minutes to cross the field.
Chris cutting down a dead tree.
There was lots of excitement collecting firewood!
The Burning Man was created. This was the old fence the grandfather helped build for the strawberry patch. It was time to go. What better way than to have it’s last moments of life be transformed into a giant wooden man and then burned? I think that was proper tribute.
The sledding hill which seemed to save this run just for the party.
No – don’t be fooled – this is not a Calvin Kline model – just Chris looking stylish for sledding.
Luckily there were only two people injured from sledding down the hill. So far both people are still alive.
The start of sap flow.
The measuring ladle.
Despite being cold, it turned out to be a glorious day.
Feeding the fire to keep the sap heated and boiling.
Never mind that dog is bigger than the little girl in the pink jacket, they became inseparable best friends the entire day and evening.
Watch the sequence of the next three photos.
Right arm in starting to swing in this photo.
Right arm has swung up for the toss.
Boom. Gasoline has hit the Burning Man.
Burning Man burning.
Burning Man’s head burnt off.
Arms going next.
Coming down.
Fire streaks.
Once the Burning Man burned down and we didn’t have to worry about pieces falling onto anyone, we could all move in close to the fire and stay warm.
Except when throwing competitions ensued trying to balance three foot logs on top of each other until they rolled off the pile.
The infamous cookbook with the recipe for the infamous morning pancake breakfast.
Nothing like home made breakfast with maple syrup on everything.
Crossing back over the border we chose the slow lane again. Of the two lanes open, the lane next to us was allowing ten cars to pass through the checkpoint for every one car moving forward in our lane. It didn’t matter. New friends were made, memories created and an old fence turned into a man was burnt to the ground keeping us warm all night. A diverse range of generations, cultures and people from all over the world found their way to the SAP party to learn about the process of producing maple syrup. In the end, what we left with was an energizing reminder of all the good people in the world, and how in a way, the SAP party turned out to be more like a family reunion. It was an opportunity to meet relations one hadn’t previously known, a gentle reminder that we are more alike than we are different and a subtle questioning of, “I wonder what they’ll burn next year?”
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It looks like such a good time! I wish I could have gone! I am so diSAPpointed I was not able to go!
At least now you get to see these great pictures, it’s almost like you were there. 🙂
…that cookbook looks like it has put on more miles than you have. Must have been a classic breakfast after a hard day and night…
There was so much food. Everyone brought wonderful dishes to share and the host put it all together so fantastic!