Lessons from a Sugar Maple
March 2014
Drip, drip, drip…..it is the sound of the slow drip of maple sap into a galvanized metal bucket hanging from a Sugar Maple. Only in New England can you enjoy a walk on the beach one day and find yourself 20 people deep sporting rubber boots as you follow a path through the woods over crunchy snow, patches of ice and the occasional strip of brown earth to learn about a very New England rite of early spring – Maple Sugaring. I decided to embrace the return of the cold a few weeks ago with a Maple Sugaring tour at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. As expected, I learned how to identify a Sugar Maple by its opposite twig arrangement and chocolate brown cone shaped buds. I learned all about the process, and now weeks later, I’m thinking about the lessons that can be learned from Maple Sugaring.
Maple sap is 98% water and 2% sugar. The slow drip takes roughly 5 ½ days for one tree to produce 40 gallons of sap which will yield only 1 gallon of syrup. The sap must be boiled and tended to allow the water to evaporate leaving the desired 2% of deliciousness. I marveled at the whole process and now weeks later, I started thinking. Technology is wonderful in so many ways, but it has fostered a need for instant gratification that needs to be tempered with reminders about the value of persistence and patience. The Sugar Maple is that reminder. The slow drip of progress in our daily lives shouldn’t be scrapped before the fruits of our labor are realized. Every time I see a Sugar Maple, I think of this lesson and I keep trying because I know the reward will be sweet.