Truckin'

Mark Erlsten, on left, demonstrates to Jim the modern way to tap trees. Jim is
faithful assistant, holding camera #2 for me :)

 

 

Today, despite the weather, we are truckin' to Reynoldsburg (near Columbus) to attend Ava's 6th birthday party. The truck seems like a safer choice of rides.

Because the roads had black ice patches, and because Jim reported many cars in ditches and hugging telephone poles earlier, I did not go to a class on Adobe Lighroom that I enrolled in at Mansfield Art Center. Since today's class was the intro and I do know a little bit about Lightroom, I am hoping to catch up next Saturday.

Because I don't have pictures from the party yet, today's post is an update on yesterday's visit to Erlsten's sugar camp. Unlike the more primitive conditions that Jim's aunt and uncle worked in, the Erlsten's camp is modern. For instance, instead of putting galvanize buckets (with lids) on spiles that were driven into the trees, Mark Elrsten uses plastic piping. It is gravity fed to a holding tank, saving the time it took Lester and Freeda to go around to each tree everyday and collect the sap. They used a horse hooked up to a sled for that part of the job. Seems charming to us, but I can only imagine the hard work involved.

In the picture above, Jim reminisces with Mark about his days of helping his uncle tap trees, and what a difference a few decades make :)

As maple season progresses I'll be putting up more pics, both from the Erlstens, the Nelsons, and even pics of us when we were young parents giving our small children a living history lesson on maple syrup.

And, again, Ladies and Gentlemen,  it's Song Lyric Time,!

Truckin' by the Grateful Dead

..."Truckin', I'm a goin' home
whoa, whao baby back to where I belong"

These words seem appropriate because no matter the weather, I feel like I belong at the celebration of Ava coming into my life six years ago


Marcheta *a most loving Nana

*********UPDATE**************************

As it turned out, we drove our car to Reynoldsburg, thanks to the wonderful job that Ohio road crews, from country to city, did to melt the ice and keep the snowdrifts at bay. There work is much appreciated!!

Sweet Season

 

 

Another calendar page turned today. February is best known for Valentine's Day, a day for roses and fancy heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates. Another sweet tradition is also underway this month; it is time to tap maple trees for maple syrup and sugar.

Jim's uncle and aunt, Lester and Freeda Eichler, ran a sugar camp during their farming days. Both are now deceased, but their work will not easily be forgotten in our family history because of the oil painting pictured above. Hazel Iiams, also deceased, painted Lester and Freeda at their sugar camp in the middle 1960's. Dina, their little black dog, is also in the pictures. I'll be writing more about the family sugar operation at a later date. I am mentioning it today because this afternoon Jim and I are visiting another local sugar camp for a story that I am working on for the Galion Inquirer.

Steve Erlsten and his brothers run a large maple business, and sell their products at the local farmers markets. Today is tapping day and I want to be there to take pictures. This means bundling up in my warmest clothes and probably popping back into my car to warm up fingers.

The great thing that I like about my life is that most days are spontaneous. I *had* planned a nice, cozy warm day inside sewing. A simple phone call, "we are tapping the trees near the sugar house", changed all that.

So, off I go, out into the frozen blue yonder, camera loaded and ready for action!

Here's a question for you...have you ever tasted real, pure maple syrup? If not, I highly recommend it. It is healthier than maple-flavored corn syrup and because it's flavor is so rich, less is needed. It's the real deal.


Marcheta *gettin' real