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By: Jim Fitzpatrick |
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Email: jim@nunica.com |
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Local Farmer in Polkton Township writes for the Coopersville Observer. |
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Along Brandy Creek By Jim Fitzpatrick
The Coopersville Observer April 4, 2005- - No. 49 |
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Along about eight maple syrup seasons ago, the farmers wife gave birth to a little baby girl. The sap was a boil'n and the steam was billowing out from every opening in the sugar shack when the time came. The Mom-to-be got word out to the woods on that Mid-March morning. It was sure enough time to be at the hospital as soon as possible.
A couple of neighbor fellows were there on the double; to take over firing the evaporator, collecting the sap and "drawing off" the newly made syrup! The farmer fellow was gone in a flash. Off to the big city hospital, he was still wearing muddy boots and coveralls! Husband and wife, and baby to be, heading down the highway; they were pushing the speed limit just a little bit on that trip.
Those eight years have passed very quickly. If you happen by the sugar shack out there in the woods these days, you'll notice that there has been a turn over in the help. Her long dark hair and brown eyes sparkle in the sunshine, reflecting off from the late winter snow cover. She hauls a small collecting bucket from tree to tree, gathering what maple sap she can carry back to the "maple house". Mostly tho, she hangs out, in and around the place; reading books, drawing pictures, poking around in the creek with her four year older brother. And, asking her dad to tell them both his usual made-up-as-you-go stories.
When those two neighbor fellows stop by these years, it is strictly to hang out and check out the progress of the maple season. They will quiz that little girl Anne, too! Some times with silly questions, sometimes serious ones. She knows just how to answer either. She is eight years old now, you know! |
