the air smells sweet

Ok. So, maybe the air down by the dairy yard isn't that sweet, especially as you walk up the hill towards the pigs, but there is a sweet smell in the air all around Main House. The end of February/beginning of March means two things at the Farm. 1. The Farm Winter Olympics (which unlike the world olympics, is a yearly event here). For more on this event, please see my last entry. And 2. Maple syrup time! Reason #2 is why the air smells so sweet.
The team that takes care of the forestry and grounds around the Farm began tapping trees a week or two ago and has already begun collecting the fruits of their labor. And today I enjoyed some of said fruits. I stopped by the Sugar Shack--where the sap is being boiled in various vats of various consistencies; which in the end turn out our DELICIOUS maple syrup--to check on the progress of our sap/syrup, but also for a cup of our famous Farm sap tea. Sap tea is basically hot sap--which is not quite syrup yet--which is then mixed with Farm cream and consumed hot. It is one of the richest things I have ever had, but something that is must every sap season.
I sat and watched as our neighbor Rick fed the fire below the vats of boiling sap, marveling at how the sap can be a metaphor for what the Farm does to us, if we allow it: we are taken in as we are found; we are put over metaphorical pressure cookers everyday, being challenged in our jobs; and then there is this sweet reward in the end. Oh, I'm not unrealistic. I know that our work at the Farm doesn't always result in fairy tale endings, but in all of our struggles we, like the sap, transform into something different, something more clarified.
Life is good.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

eggnog with lighter fluid and other cherished Christmas memories

Image
I started digging to find my favorite Christmas-esque scenes/lines from movies and I was pleased with what I found. In spirit of my 14's lists, here goes: 1. Charles De Mar: "Ah, come on! It's Christmas Eve! I could be home right now, drinking this *monster* eggnog my brother makes with lighter fluid." ~ Better Off Dead I also love the present opening scene on Christmas day, where his mother is dressed like a reindeer, his father gets an ardvark jacket and the kids get freezer dinners. Pan out to the neighbors Christmas when the French foreign exchange student gets a framed picture of Ricky. I LOVE THIS MOVIE! 2. When Zuzu says to George Bailey, "Look, daddy! Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an Angel gets his wings." George quietly agrees, "Attaboy, Clarence," as "Auld Lang Syne" rings out. That scene makes me cry everytime. (I also love that if George had never been around, Mary became a spinster librarian--see pic) ~ It's a W
Read more

sample retirement acceptance letter

Image
The hardest part of being the Director in a small library is that we don't have an HR person, so on top of everything else we do we also get to do the paperwork for the new hires, and retires. Thank God for the internet or these processes would take a lot longer!  One of my board members pointed out that though I'd been informed of staff retirements, I had to officially accept them with a letter...I am finding that a paper trail is an important thing. So, I found a short and simple letter on one university's HR website (sorry forgot which!?) and honed it to work for us. Attached is my sample of a retirement letter.  Is anyone else out there going through this process too?
Read more

"howl the eternal yes"

Image
Just read a CNN article this morning about the Aurora Borealis making an appearance. It reminded me of Northern Exposure and Chris the DJ. So, thought I would share a quote as I reminisce about the Aurora Borealis, a.k.a. The Northern Lights, which I saw my first year at the Farm in Massachusetts, which I actually saw on my 23rd birthday!--the best birthday present I ever got!! "There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vader in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either-or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness. Stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!" ~ Chris, Northern Exposure, "Aurora Borealis (A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups).” It feel
Read more