Last Thursday we stopped by my dear friend Sarah's house to pick up a few things she had for us. Sarah and I got to chatting while Grace and Emma waited in the car, and when I returned, Emma said: "Mama, what is Sarah doing?" I explained that she was out boiling maple sap to make into syrup. Emma thought about this for a moment and then asked: "If I shovel a path to our maple trees do you think Sarah would boil our sap, too?" Paths were created as soon as we arrived home that afternoon and the next morning brought a lesson in tapping trees and collecting sap.
And just like, our born and raised New England girls seemed even more New Englandy to me. From that very fist day, and each day since, they have happily taken it upon themselves to keep a very close eye on the taps, transferring the sap to their blue buckets each time the jug is full (which is about two or three times a day). We have yet to start our first boil, but I have a feeling that from the moment David lights the fire to begin that process, that the girls will be there every step of the way carefully watching and helping and learning more about this seasonal ritual that seems to be part of their souls already. xo
