Maple Madness -- Day Two

On Sunday, March 17th, Sal and I drove to the Rocky River Reservation and took a tour of the sugarbush conducted by a very knowledgeable park staffer.  She explained the whole process of syrup-making -- from tree to finished product -- to a group consisting of mostly families with young children.  I probably looked like quite an oddball as I trailed behind the group taking ukulele pictures.  The tour ended at the evaporator, which in this case is fueled with wood.  The gentleman who was making the syrup explained to me how wood becomes spalted -- very interesting (and icky to think that the markings in the wood are made by fungi).

It was easier to balance the uke without the icy snow on top of the bucket!

Maple Madness Tour -- Day One continued...

After learning how maple syrup is made, we took pix of Little Sal hanging out with some sap buckets on a woodpile in a corner of the cabin.  The evaporator in Burton is not fueled with wood anymore, but the pile was very photogenic.

Then we went outside to take some pictures of Little Sal on top of a sap bucket.  It was hard to get the ukulele to balance there on the slippery wet snow, but we managed to find a way.  Here's an interesting thought contributed by a friend -- this tree is one of Sal's cousins, since the trees are maple and the uke is maple, too.

Maple Madness Tour -- Day One

My sister and I went to Burton with Little Sal on Saturday, March 16th -- a one-stop Maple Madness Tour.

It was very cold and a bit on the wet side, so Sal stayed in her case until we went inside!

We entered the cabin, which was well-stocked with jugs of maple syrup and other goodies.  In the next room we met this gentleman, who explained the process of syrup-making -- and very kindly agreed to pose with Little Sal.  A couple of families came in and the kids took the opportunity to hold Sal. 

Very cute, but I don't think this little person has got the hang of holding a uke quite yet.  ;)