It’s that time of year again, albeit a little later than usual, when thoughts turn to the sticky, sweet smell and taste of maple syrup. Yes, in Vermont we produce some of the best maple syrup in the world. In fact, the syrup that I produce from my own maple trees here at Donomar Inn is, in fact, the best in the world! Not that I’ve sampled maple syrup from around the world, but I’m sticking to my opinion, no pun intended. Well maybe a little.

March 24, 2007, I tapped my trees, four taps. Yes, that’s more than enough for me to handle. I’m tapping a little late this year because we’ve had some very interesting weather in Vermont lately. Rain, snow, sleet, sixty degrees above zero, twenty five degrees below zero, you name it. So today was finally the day. In order for the sap to run you need below freezing temperatures at night and about forty degrees during the day.

I set my taps with an old fashion hand drill just like the one my eighty-some-odd year old neighbor used when he set the taps for me at our old house. He and his wife taught me everything I needed to know when I was learning how to boil the sap into syrup. When I first started out I would burn the syrup every time. I finally asked our neighbors if there was a trick or if they had any words of wisdom. His wife thought about it for a moment and said, “Well, all I can say is when it goes, it goes quick!” “Huh.” I said, scratching my head. “Is that it? That’s all I get? When it goes it goes quick!” Marion said, “Ayah.” Of course, that advice was all I needed and I can honestly say I haven’t burnt a batch since!

Last year was the first time I tapped trees here at the Inn. I ended up with about a gallon of syrup. That’s pretty good considering it takes forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup and at the moment I boil it on our stove in the kitchen! I’m hoping to build a little sugar shack, but until that happens I’ll continue to boil inside with the big vent over the stove on high and several windows open. In fact, I’m boiling the sap from today as we speak!

Normally tapping is quite uneventful; get the drill, the taps, the buckets, and the hammer. Drill the hole up at an angle so the sap will run down and make sure the hole is cleaned out before you hammer the tap in. I use a half inch drill bit, the kind that starts out with a sharp point about a quarter of an inch long that ends in a shoulder before it spreads out to the half inch width for the hole. I guess you’d call that a starter bit. As I said earlier my drill is an antique like the one my neighbor used. I traveled to many antique shows and antique shops before I finally found it. It has a handle on one side and a crank on the other. There is a curved piece of metal on the end that fits on your thigh for leverage. I love it and wouldn’t ever tap with a power drill. I guess if I had a stand of sugar maples I might think differently, but for setting four taps; this is the only way to go. Plus if it was good enough for Wilbur, my neighbor, it’s good enough for me!

I was so glad it was Saturday and Moira was home from school so we could tap together. I drilled and set three taps and asked her is she would like to drill one herself. She said she would try. She did a great job, but couldn’t drill the hole deep enough so I finished it. In all fairness she was slightly distracted because she was afraid she would be late for yoga. After I set the fourth and last tap Moira was about to leave. She turned around and came running back to me to give me a kiss goodbye. I was standing several feet away holding the hammer and drill, which had tipped in my hand so the pointy bit was sticking straight up in the air.

The kiss goodbye was successful, however when she dropped her right hand to turn and leave she hit the drill bit and punctured the pad right below her thumb! She let out a slight yip and immediately grabbed the hole in her hand. I kept saying let me see it, but she wouldn’t let go. I actually think she was going into shock! I finally got her to release her Herculean grip on her thumb so I could look at the wound. I was expecting a gusher of blood, but there it was a tiny, tiny slit that wasn’t even bleeding. She covered it up quick and started to cry. I said, “It’s not even bleeding!” She said, “Yes it is. It’s going to!” As you can tell Moira isn’t very good with blood or injuries. Childbirth was a breeze, three times! But this was just too much.

I got her into the house and said she’d have to let go of her booboo so I could wash it and put a little butterfly Band-Aid on it. I made her sit while I washed my hands and prepared for surgery. I got my old softball training kit out from the basement with all the paraphernalia I would need. I washed my hands and turned to her pale face and she extended her shaky, injured hand so bravely. I checked out the wound again and, in all fairness, it was a pretty deep puncture. It was about a quarter of an inch long and very deep. I’m surprised it didn’t hit the bone! I had to actually squeeze it a little to get it to bleed, which was very interesting. I had the same thing happen to me one time when I cut my hand down to the bone. I looked at it, I could see my bone, but it didn’t bleed, until I got to the hospital. Once it started, well…

Anyway, I washed it with warm water and soap. Moira was very brave. I then put a big glob of anti-bacterial cream on it, then the butterfly Band-aide, then a regular Band-aide for good measure. Then I had Moira sit in a chair with her head between her knees. Wow, she was so shaken. Of course it could have been much worse. I could see the vein she had just missed! When she had settled down and was getting back to normal she suggested I run out and get some lunch and she would be fine. I said okay and ran down to the corner and grabbed a sandwich and a treat for the brave patient and ran back. When I got back there was Moira sitting in the chair with her face all pale again. I said, “What happened? I looked at her hand and it had started to bleed. She said, “I wanted to vacuum while you were gone. I needed to use my injured hand to take the attachment off. I made her let me see the injury again. I tried to peer under the bandage without taking it off. I could see a little blood stain on it. I determined it would be better to leave it alone and I forbid her to use that hand.  She grinned at me; she loves being in trouble! We sat and shared my sandwich and her treat while we talked and laughed. He hand felt better and so did she. We walked our dog and all was well.

Later Moira was getting ready to go out with some friends to a show so I told her I wanted to change her bandage before she went. She was nervous, but said okay. I took the first Band-aide off without any surprises. In fact, there was the tiniest speck of blood from the vacuuming incident.  I decided to leave the butterfly Band-aide on and put a new Band-aide on top of it and then I wrapped it with another bandage so she wouldn’t forget she had an injury. She seemed happy and off she went. Now I’m boiling the sap I collected today and writing this blog. I can smell the syrup and see the froth in the pan so I better go check it because as you know, when it goes, it goes quick!