Monday, April 2, 2018

Sweet Springtime

Spring is here. I know that because I have spent much of the last four weeks traipsing around in the snow gathering sap to make maple syrup.

But before I get into that, I will give you the report on the cancer which is what this blog is supposed to be about. Fortunately, there is little to report. Well, the numbness in my feet is still slowly getting worse, but it is still not too bad. I guess it is better than numbness in the brain. I am now on "Cycle 65". A year ago, the doctors were amazed with how long this had worked for me. Let's keep our fingers crossed for another year or two.

I still have to visit Dana Farber two out of every three weeks. A month ago, I invited a former boss to Fox Hill for lunch. When she asked, I told her that getting the chemo was a lot like having a job, except that when I worked for her, she never had me bring in a 24 hour urine sample.

My other "job" is woodworking. I have managed to complete a few more wood turning projects. Here is a photo of my most recent favorite:

But lately, I have been focusing on making maple syrup. I did not make any last year, Sapping sneaked up on me and I missed it. I determined not to let the same thing happen this year. I decided to tap my trees in February. 

Even though there was some snow on the ground, I put my truck into 4 wheel drive and it easily drove down the dirt road. No problem. Until I tried to turn around. I got the truck totally stuck. Which meant that I had to walk home a quarter home to get the tractor. I drove the tractor up there to pull out the truck. I got the tractor stuck too.

Eventually, I freed them both, but it was a long afternoon. After that, my rule was to back the truck in so that I would not get stuck again. My new truck has a backup camera, but this does not show you trees that are beside you. I would have though that hitting a side mirror would sort of break it off in one piece. Nay Nay. It pulverizes the $300 mirror into about a thousand pieces.

Here is a photo of the earthly remains of my mirror:

But I got satisfaction, I just happened to have a chain saw in the truck and I made that tree pretty darned sorry, let me tell you.

Once I did not have to worry about the mirror, backing down the road got a lot easier.I could then carry the sap in 5 gallon buckets from the trees and load them into the back of the truck. It worked very well. Here is a photo of my sap boilers in action:

Barbara does not come with me to New Hampshire. For reasons that I do not understand, she prefers being warm and cozy at Fox Hill Village to the cold, darkness and snow of New Hampshire. Besides, she is getting deeply involved with the governance of Fox Hill Village and has been nominated to the Board or Directors. That should keep her busy.

The other problem with Winter in New Hampshire is that the Magic Basket does not work. In the summer, there is a basket in the laundry room into which I can throw my dirty socks and undies. A few days later, they show up in my socks and undies drawer all clean and folded. For some reason, this does not work in the winter. Barbara asked me what I do when run out of undies. I told her that I go to Walmart and buy more.

So, that's the quarterly update. No news is good news. Let's hope it stays that way.

Best regards to everyone for a happy Spring.