Cluster Flies

There lies a heavy reminder of snow on the ground, but spring will win, it always does. I peer out across the landscape under heavy cloudy resistance at the sandy snow, dirt, puddles. It all feels so slow. It's hard to believe that powers are changing the landscape, unseen. The cluster flies know. They're bouncing on the windows incessantly attempting penetration as ages old instincts sing of tilled soil by machinery or hoof, and the exposure of moist, forgotten earthworms.

We wait.  And those who cannot wait create varying landscapes for their amusement, dialing the channel from this to something else. Spring break? There's that. That's what we've done. We've escaped the molasses flow of spring and hurried to a place alive with it already, filling our hearts with birdsong and flowers, the music of it still playing in our minds upon our return.

Our closest friend derives the sap from the maples this time of year. It's the first harvest from the land. And how sweet it is! I'll share some ideas a little further down the page.

The hoop houses in the area are filling with seedlings in total disregard of the grey sky-grey snow. I'm sure the caretakers can't even notice the creeping weather. How could you when your eyes are filled with the miracle of seed? Earth, water, seed interacting to create life, which sustains life, which creates life again. Science and Miracle dance this time of year so obviously, so carelessly, so abundantly, and so confidently. Nature awakens in everything, from first sap, to creation of next year's seed.

I encourage you to taste, slowly, the first evidence of fresh, local spring that passes your lips and hesitates on your tongue.

Maple Steamer

• One Cup of Milk (Soy, Almond, Cow, etc.)
• Two Tablespoons of Maple Syrup 

Using an espresso machine, steam and froth the two ingredients together. The more froth the better, as Maple Syrup is heavy and the froth with fight to suspend it in every sip.

Maple Shake

• Four Scoops Ice Cream
• ¼ Cup Maple Syrup
• Milk

Add as much milk as necessary to the other ingredients so your blender spins everything up well.