It’s maple sugaring season in New Hampshire, a sure sign that spring is on the way! The weather dictates when sugar season begins, since for the sap to run there must be temperatures above freezing in the daytime and below freezing at night. This New England tradition was begun by the Native Americans, and continues to this day. Sugar houses can be found all over rural New Hampshire, with operations both large and small. New Englanders love their maple syrup, and enjoy it on pancakes, french toast, and ice cream.

When the temperatures are high enough for the frozen sap in the trees to thaw, the sap melts, and pressure builds up in the tree until the sap begins to run. Maple syrup makers tap the trees by drilling holes in them, collect the sap, and boil it down into syrup. Trees are tapped and a bucket set on the trunk of the tree to catch the sap. The farmer then goes from tree to tree in the sugarbush emptying the buckets into a larger bucket to transport back to the sugar house to boil down. (In larger operations, the taps are set up so that the sap runs into tubing that runs between the trees and collects the sap at a central point, saving time and labor).

Once the sap is back transported to the sugar house, it is boiled down over a very hot wood fire, until the water evaporates away and syrup is formed. If you visit a sugar house when they are boiling, when the syrup is finished, they offer around little paper cups of syrup so that you can taste the freshest maple syrup you will ever have. When our children were young, we  visited a sugar house each spring so that they could see the syrup being made and have a taste. Another big treat, called Sugar on Snow,  is to pour the hot maple syrup on packed snow, where it hardens like taffy and you can twirl it up and eat it, followed by a bite of dill pickle to cut the sweetness. Yum! Our local sugarhouses are open and boiling, so come on up and try some!

The maple syrup that we serve at the Inn comes from a local farm in Chesterfield owned by the Mitchell family. Peter Mitchell and his dad make syrup every year, and have it down to a fine science. Bill Mitchell has been making syrup for 70 years, since he was a boy, and it is delicious!

Well, this is when it starts every year. Those of us who choose to live in Northern New England start to go a little crazy in the beginning of March!

By now, we’ve had at least 4 months of cold weather, and at least 3 months of snowy weather. That means we’re accustomed to the cold, and skilled at snow removal from walks, roofs, and driveways. It also means that we think it’s warm if the temperature goes above freezing,  and we throw off our gloves, and drive the car with the sun roof open when it’s 35 degrees out.

This weekend we had our first real taste of spring with temperatures in the 50′s and lots of sunshine. The snow started to melt, and the lawn and gardens started to emerge from their thick blanket of snow. We could hear the birds singing and even sighted a hardy robin in the yard. We rushed outside, to go for walk or to start to  clean up the downed branches from the last snow storm. It was a glorious day!

Then, we woke up to a snow storm on Monday morning which quickly covered the roads,  making everything white again. The roads were slick, and it snowed all day long; we were right back to shoveling. It was depressing, and even the hardiest among us let slip that we were tired of winter. This is just too cruel to bear, a glimmer of hope that spring is near, and then the door slams shut and winter returns.

But, things are looking brighter  today, now that the snow has stopped. The sun is out,  the birds are chirping, and yes, the snow is starting to melt. The trees are still snow covered and sparkling in the sun light, looking magical. So, we lift out heads, take a deep breath, and try to enjoy the last days of winter, ever hopeful for spring to come, ready to have our hopes dashed again before winter is finally over!

As anyone who follows the weather knows, we’ve lots and lots of snow in Southwestern New Hampshire this winter!  We’ve had at least one storm each week since early December, and the storms have all dumped at least 5 inches of the white stuff on us. Up here, we measure snowstorms on whether there’s enough to shovel-3 inches or more- and whether there’s enough to plow-5 inches or more. A blizzard is when we have white out conditions and enough to plow twice-12 inches or more! You get the picture.

Since our winter lasts so long, northerners know that the only way to get through it is to embrace it, to get outside and enjoy it. Yes, it’s cold, but there is a particular beauty to winter that is stunning. The air is bracing, the leafless branches of the trees stand out against the sky, the snow softens the landscape as it defines the soft evergreens in its white backdrop.

One of the best kept secrets of the Monadnock Region is Pisgah Park, right here in Chesterfield. The Park encompasses 13,500 acres, and has two entrances in Chesterfield, at Horseshoe Road and on Route 63 at Kilburn Pond.

Last weekend, my friend Annie and I headed out for a snow shoe in the park. Annie had never gone snow shoeing before but she picked it up right away and off we went. We used ski poles for balance, and moved right along into the woods on the trail. We met two other people the entire time that we were out  and has a lovely snow shoe on the pristine trail along Kilburn Pond. If we’d had more time we could have made the entire loop around the pond, which takes about 3 hours. After 2 hours we were tired, and headed home in the dusky late afternoon, feeling exhilarated by the strenuous exercise, and beauty of the outdoors.