Sweet rewards from spring ritual
These days, when iPods and Gameboys are the rage, and kids live by instant messaging and gratification, the timely processing of maple sap into maple syrup might seem downright boring. But to our family it's not. We look forward to the start of spring and maple sugaring.
Using our makeshift evaporator, it's an all-day affair to boil down 30 gallons of sap into just about a half gallon of syrup. So, by 5 a.m. the coffee is on and my husband, Chris, and I are outside setting up the burner and a pan that could hold enough lasagna to feed a small town. Despite living on an extremely busy street, it's quiet. The constant daytime drone of cars, trucks and buses is missing. I stop what I'm doing and stand there with my eyes closed, enjoying the silence.
With the pan a quarter-full of sap and the burners on, Chris heads off to work. In no time, wisps of lightly maple-scented steam rise into the air. As the sun starts to rise, a few cars are on the road and our neighbor's homes are coming out of the shadows. I wonder how all this peace and quiet can be happening in our normally incredibly busy life. But sugaring does that.
At 6:45 a.m., I add more sap to the pan and then head back inside to wake the girls for school. I don't have to remind them that we're sugaring. They are up and dressed without the usual unfortunate morning routine. Dola doesn't beg me to pull her out of bed because her legs don't work or to help her with her socks because her feet are broken. Madeleine isn't standing in the middle of their room screaming, ''I don't have anything to wear!" The peace and quiet of the early morning has permeated the house. As I head back downstairs I tell them there's hot chocolate and cereal for breakfast, and if they want they can eat outside. Ten minutes later the girls are dressed for the cold and carrying their bowls and mugs outside to eat while they help me tend to the evaporator.
I'm stunned that they're outside so quickly. Normally, on days when we aren't sugaring, it's at least a half an hour before the girls are dressed and down for breakfast. All the while, I'm running up and down the stairs, pulling my hair out, urging them to hurry up or they'll be late for school.
Of course, today, the hot chocolate goes fast but finishing their cereal is the last thing on their minds. The girls are more interested in stirring and tasting the cooking sap. So much so, their cereal milk is starting to freeze in the bowls.
I remind them, ''Girls, your breakfast!" But they're off to dump the icy sap from the buckets that are hanging on the trees into the pan. They race each other from tree to tree to see who can empty the most buckets. And when they are through with the trees in our yard they take the wagon and collect the buckets at the neighbors. In the end, all the buckets are empty and their cereal is frozen. We all agree that oatmeal topped with hot maple syrup would be best for our next sugaring breakfast picnic.
Before we know it, the traffic in front of the house is back to its usual stop and go, and it's time to get ready for school. We've had a great morning out in the brisk fresh maple air. I kiss the girls goodbye and promise them there will be pancakes with homemade syrup when they get home.
Patty Hébert lives in Framingham, where she is finishing her first novel when she's not sugaring with her family.For more information on sugaring, visit the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association website, www.massmaple.org. To submit a Suburban Diary, e-mail Steve Maas at maas@globe.com and keep your essay under 700 words. 