petersp22
12-14-2008, 05:45 PM
Today I got a Christmas card from my neighbors. It was a beautifully handcrafted fabric card that clearly took a lot of thought and effort. Along with it was a letter that the husband had written. The husband is a retired natural resources professional. Nature was his thing and each year his Christmas letter is based on that theme. This year his letter ended with something that really made me happy, so I’ll quote it directly.
There is a special ritual that makes a cold winter’s night something special. A wood fire crackling in the fireplace or woodstove is the starting point. Next, a comfortable easy chair, a reading light and a good book are needed. Follow this with some good music, without any conversation, and top it all off with a mug of hot tea sweetened by a generous dollop of pure maple syrup. Most important is a neighbor who will tap some of our maples, collect and boil down the sap and then give us a few bottles of that nectar of the northwoods. Join us as we experience the out-of-doors.
May your Christmas be as joyous as that which we are fortunate to experience.
I suspect that everyone on here gives away some of what we make. I might get a thank-you now and then but this one really mattered, that it meant enough to them to highlight it in a Christmas greeting that they took such effort to create. Last season I made about ten gallons of syrup. I tap four or five of their trees and I gave them a couple pints. I had no idea how much those couple pints meant to them. It’s maple syrup, but there might be a lot more in the bottle too.
To borrow from Lee’s letter… May your Christmas be as joyous as that which we are fortunate to experience.
There is a special ritual that makes a cold winter’s night something special. A wood fire crackling in the fireplace or woodstove is the starting point. Next, a comfortable easy chair, a reading light and a good book are needed. Follow this with some good music, without any conversation, and top it all off with a mug of hot tea sweetened by a generous dollop of pure maple syrup. Most important is a neighbor who will tap some of our maples, collect and boil down the sap and then give us a few bottles of that nectar of the northwoods. Join us as we experience the out-of-doors.
May your Christmas be as joyous as that which we are fortunate to experience.
I suspect that everyone on here gives away some of what we make. I might get a thank-you now and then but this one really mattered, that it meant enough to them to highlight it in a Christmas greeting that they took such effort to create. Last season I made about ten gallons of syrup. I tap four or five of their trees and I gave them a couple pints. I had no idea how much those couple pints meant to them. It’s maple syrup, but there might be a lot more in the bottle too.
To borrow from Lee’s letter… May your Christmas be as joyous as that which we are fortunate to experience.