March Arrives Like The Lion It Is
It’s been a head turning first week of March all around. Firstly, we have the official ice-out beginning as the large chunks of ice and ice dams noisily break up and flood the waterways. The annual ice-out also signals the messy mud season is beginning. The disappearing snow and water it creates will now turn the once frozen softening landscape into a brown sticky soupy mess and boots will be required everywhere there is no hard surface.
Next came the large wind storm that knocked down trees, wires, and turned the neighbors trash bins by the road into flying projectiles. Thankfully nobody has been harmed, but there was some serious property damage. Most of the two day span was spent picking up tree debris and we kept warm using a portable propane space heater after losing power along with thousands of others in the state. The loud gales sounded akin to spring and winter having a nasty knock-down battle and throwing everything aside in the wake.
The good is the maple sap buckets have begun appearing on the maple tree trunks. Every February just as the last patches of snow recede into the shaded corners of the woods, the large metal buckets appear hung with care on the trunks of the old sugar maples under the inserted sap spouts. This is a sure sign that winter is loosening its grip even if the mornings still have a raw bite of frost to them.
In a few days, these pails will be full and the real magic begins. The New England sugar shacks will come alive, the chimneys will begin puffing out thick white steam nonstop as the sap is boiled down to syrup for sweet treats. The first batch is always the best. A local tradition in one Maine maple sugar house is that the cooked mixture be immediately poured over fresh-packed snow in a wooden bowl for taste testing and syrup thickness. If the syrup is cooked right it will then form a chewy taffy on the cold snow. Maple sugar tastes like springtime to me no matter the season.
The usual quiet small town life is now anything but. With the changing of the U.S. presidency and the ongoing political and economic turmoil that’s ensued come the protests. This is a recent gathering that took place on one of the coldest days by far in the city square. As much as I shy away from the subjects of politics and religion, this administration is greatly affecting everyone just weeks in - myself included. I am now to the point I don’t watch the news. I have enough going on day to day without that added stress and anxiety.
Food shopping is already a poker game financially. Once I got wind of the possible imposed Trump tariffs I asked my boss if I could work more hours. My Veteran husband works full time though he is past retirement age. I’m taking on more hours to try and lessen the financial load and help keep us ahead of whatever is coming and make no mistake, life is going to get harder in the states these next four years. The problem is Trump’s lack of credibility, his unpredictability, and he is attacking citizens from all sides to serve his own agenda. All I or anyone can do is try and prepare, cause and effect. When life gives you lemons: (feel free to chime in) …
On the home front we are trying to be more frugal. I have not made my own bread in years and now is a good time to restart. No eggs are involved thank goodness. How much are eggs where you are? Here they are 8$ for a dozen and up with some stores having none to sell at all. During Covid I started stockpiling dry and canned foods. I also buy and store extra potatoes year round. There are markdown sections in our food shop that help keep costs down a lot. Produce, canned foods, non-food items, every discount helps. No I don’t use a bread machine to make bread, I’m old school hands on. Bread making is the one thing I don’t screw up baking.
My recent discount food grab was mostly produce. I found mushrooms, summer squash, potatoes, onions and grapes. The men like their meat but I am more of a vegetable eater, so this dinner worked out well for all. I tossed the sliced squash and mushrooms into a pan and sautéed them in olive oil with a bit of garlic, then added the meat. For awhile I was just eating vegetarian not just because I prefer it, but it also doesn’t upset my stomach. Listening to your body is always a good thing in my experience.
In the last two years I had to go back to incorporating some red meat into my diet because eating vegetarian left me vitamin B12 deficient. I only became aware of it when I began bruising easily all over no matter how careful I was and I looked like a Dalmatian with spots on my arms and legs. At that point my B12 was so low I had to give myself doctor prescribed injections temporarily for months. Now that my levels are where they should be I pay more attention to what I do and don’t eat. Aging is a ridiculous dance of “should I or shouldn’t I.”
I’ve said it before, I am not a foodie. I eat once a day and find that topic annoying in itself. It has nothing to do with weight gain or loss. In my 40’s I gained an extra 50 pounds out of nowhere but not all over. It’s primarily centralized in my midriff, add gravity and my age to the equation and you get lower back and hip aches. With all of the hours of walking and physical activity I do at work you’d think I could easily knock those numbers down but nope. Gone are my days of living on just coffee and adrenaline and dropping 5 pounds in two days.
Remember my previous post showing the ice and snow? As fast as it arrived it disappeared. The trees are showing hints of spring life with tiny leaf buds and the new grass will soon appear. In the garden I can hear the cardinals singing their day long songs for a mate, and see other birds gathering nest bedding. Arriving home late afternoon recently we were surprised to see the hibernating chipmunks out and about. Nature doesn’t take long to recover her beauty after a long winter sleep. It will be a good growing season for gardens this year with all of precipitation we have had.
It will be an even bigger season for the notorious tiny black flies that arrive with the warmth of spring to make a meal of everyone. They don’t stay long and are relentless. A single bite on the face can cause significant swelling, they aren't picky and will gravitate towards anything warm blooded. I have had one whole eye swollen shut in years past. It looks worse than it is but you’re smart to avoid them at all cost. It’s a small price to pay for spring and the long awaited summer weather that follows. What time of the year is your favorite and what do you love about it?
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