Fire, Ice and Syrup

Syrup making in the 1960's on the escarpment was a great place for kids to learn from their Grandpa. He was and still is the only person that I know who used his jack knife to make cedar shavings to light the fire from both ends of the open pan we used to boil the syrup in. We collected the sap from trees just below and on the escarpment where the northwest winds drive the snow deep against the rock, often freezing the sap. Now we throw the ice away to ensure high quality syrup. Maybe we made poor quality dark syrup. I only remember it tasting good in my school lunches... straight from the bowl with a slice of buttered bread.

Did we really sit in the open winter air and make syrup like this? Today we whine when it is cold in the sugar shack!