Sunday School was the story about Mary anointing Jesus’s head with perfume. The kids made alabaster ‘jars’ with baby oil and perfume, and we talked about what it meant to be wasteful. And how we could honor Jesus.
The drive on the way up to Slippery Rock was beautiful – the sky was bright blue with puffy clouds. The temperature stayed right about 50* and the sun stayed out all day.
I met Di and Shannon at Diane’s at 11:30 and we headed to Jennings. We did stop at Arby’s for a quick lunch – I had a slider and the best ‘fast food’ fries I’ve had in recent memory. Shannon was ringing the bell on the way out- good meal!
The program was about tapping trees, maple syrup, and changes through the process. Our guide, Stephanie, not only gave us great information but also made the event fun and interesting!
The program started inside with a slide show with information about Jennings Environmental; then we learned about the structure of trees, what trees can be tapped for syrup (there are 3 besides the maples), how to properly place the taps, and what equipment is necessary. We also learned the changes from the early Native Americans through current day.
From there we went outside. We learned how to identify maple trees from their branches, since in February and March there are no leaves to identify the trees.
Our second stop was to see how Native Americans tapped the trees. They put the sap in hollowed out trees, and heated rocks over a fire. They dropped the rocks into the sap (and repeated the process endlessly!) until the water boiled off and the syrup was ready. They, however, boiled it until they made maple sugar, which they could store under ground for years!
When the colonists arrived they made changes – they tapped the trees and put the sap in a huge open caldron over a hot fire. When the water was boiled off they stored it in buckets.
Once we got past the Civil War, more changes were made. Metal spouts were inserted in trees with a metal bucket attached. The sled – called a Stone Boat -had a huge barrel on the back and was pulled from tap to tap and emptied, then taken to a ‘sugar shack’ (an enclosed building) where the kids would stir and watch the sap boil down into syrup. It was boiled in flat-bottomed pans, and that concept is still used today.
World War II saw the conversion from buckets and taps to tubing and clear plastic bags hung on plastic taps. This keeps the dirt and bugs, etc, out of the sap and is still often used today. Another option is to drain the tubing into a covered bucket.
At the end of the tour we saw the sap from the property being boiled and made into syrup. We also got to taste a sample, and I can say that it was very good, and very sweet! Thanks to Stephanie for sharing her expertise with us, and for engaging her group so well. It was a great program.
Diane’s daughter Lori had bought her and I both a Snoopy Christmas Dome as a surprise! I’m so excited! I’m going to turn the lights out in the family room, turn on the dome, and enjoy an evening of ‘Christmas’ before I tuck it away for future holidays.
I’m going to finish this up, get supper, and be done for the night. I finished watching Night Sky last night (binge-watched!) and – as Gen had shared – the acting was great and the older couple (Franklin and Irene) could be a proto-type for Mom and John! It was Sci-Fi and adventure/fantasy – but I did appreciate the relationships!
Fun things to do in Washington DC:
Scripture:
Quote about sweet taste:
PEANUTS POST:
Top song of 2005: MUD ON THE TIRES – Brad Paisley
TOMORROW March 6th is:
National Frozen Food Day; National Oreo Cookie Day; National Dress Day; National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day; National Dentist’s Day.
I have Oreo Cookies in the freezer – I’ll go there! BUT don’t tell my dentist. God bless….
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