Tag Archives: spiritual journeys

Sticky Situation

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We did it! We did it! We did it! Hooray! Now that I have Dora the Explorer’s theme song running through my head and yours, let me give you a little update on what exactly we did. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that we have tapped a few of our maple trees to make maple syrup this spring. Well, our minimal research and best laid, however naive, plans, made me host a “boiling party” this past Sunday. I invited a few friends over to sit by the fire with us and see how the day went. I thought it would be relaxed and fun. Roast a few hot dogs, maybe, get at least half of our sap boiled up, and perhaps bottle a bit.

Photo by Sindre Fs on Pexels.com

As life would have it, our plans don’t always work out as we expect. First, our sap is frozen. Stored in the freezer to keep it fresh. That’s fine… but after an overnight thaw, we still had big chunks of ice. No worries, right? Gonna boil it down anyway. Big chunks of ice don’t fit in my shallow pans. Then it rained the night before. Which means our wood and fire spot was fairly damp. We did save some fuel indoors (because we did check the weather!) but the hubby still had a hard time getting the fire going. And he usually has no trouble starting fires. Wink Wink.

Now remember, we’ve never done this before. We have no idea what we are doing. Yet, we march forward… fire going. Pans boiling. Sap levels start going down. Things appear to be working. Let’s put another pan out and try the bar-b-que. Yeah, that will work. We won’t mention the propane bill. I have fed my guests hamburgers. They are gracious, long time friends whom we love. They don jackets and “check on the fire” and encourage the hubby. We drink coffee and complain about the cold.

Hours have past. So, let’s get to the crux of this story. We have “thickened” sap. Our research tells us we can “finish off” our syrup inside on the stove. Everyone tells you not to do the maple syrup inside because it makes everything sticky, but this “finishing off” part needs to be monitored. The temperature checks and precision is needed to get the sap to the syrup stage… so it is okay to do this part inside on the stove. Okay. Stock pot locked and loaded. Two inches of sap from an entire 12 litre bucket. Candy thermometer marked at 219 degrees F. And then we got distracted. Chit chatting outside. Thinking the other was watching the pot boil. Disaster. Our syrup was burnt sugar.

Disaster

Okay, okay. Let’s fix it. I break out the candy molds. Maple sugar candy… that’s a thing, right? The family says add water… we boiled again. Yes! Syrup! Bottle it in our cute maple syrup bottles… wait. What are the floatie things? Eww. Is it supposed to look like that? Google. Apparently, one must filter the sugar sand or niter that remains in sap-syrup. Coffee filters don’t work. I spilled some. The syrup is now thick and sticky…. and drips and drops are everywhere! On my elbows, on my counter, on the stove, in the sink, in pots, pans and bottles. Sticky rolled up coffee filters with sandy grit are piled and discarded. Spoons and taste testers are left on sticky counters. Our friends have abandoned us. This is why they tell you don’t do maple syrup inside. It becomes a sticky situation!!

After 6 or so hours and all that… we have two 250ml bottles of thick, clear, sweet maple syrup to enjoy! (And 9 or so more buckets in the freezer to do it all over again with!) Seriously though, we had fun. We learned through trial and error. We laughed, we panicked, we yelled a little, but in the end: We did it!

We did it!

And so we come to the life lesson of boiling day. So often, we get ourselves in sticky situations, don’t we? We plan an Instagram worthy party with good friends. We think it is all going to be fluffy and romantic. We underestimate the time needed to invest. We think we will get so much more accomplished than we do. We try. We learn through trial and error and mistakes — and Google? We yell a little. Things get burnt. We waste precious resources and get distracted when we should be focused. We end up with big messes that need to get filtered through the One who is in control of it all.

Psalm 40 shows us how to get out of that sticky situation and stand again on solid ground. The stability (with all the sweet benefits) of being in the hands of the one who has laid out “good plans” for us. God no longer wants our burnt offerings, as sugary as they may be to us. He wants honest, raw worship and obedience. He wants us to call out to Him in those times of trouble, so He can lift us out of the mess, and show others the Way. It’s tough work. Sometimes it’s messy and things don’t go as planned. Sometimes we have a lot of cleaning up to do. Often, we get given the chance to do it all over again — and learn from our mistakes, as we work towards “perfection”.

Keep following along. The Mitton crew has buckets full of more chances at perfection sitting in the freezer. And if you receive a cute bottle of syrup from Itsnotta Farm — ignore the floaties –and enjoy the sweetness! Just know it was painstakingly life lessoned and prepared for you with lots of love and time!

I Speak for the Trees

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Welcome back! In case you haven’t been following along, we are headstrong into our first attempt at maple syrup making here at Itsnotta Farm. One of the first things we needed to do when we decided to tap a few trees, was to figure out what trees to tap! Not all trees are syrup producers and not all producers are good ones. We knew we had a few maples, but not true sugar maples. So, we did what everyone does: we googled it. Which helped. A little. There are no leaves on the trees this time of year, so branch position, bark texture and subtle other clues are supposed to help. I’m sorry, but tree bark is tough to distinguish. Really. Rough? It’s all rough and buggy and torn up and wounded to me. Who knows? Just poke some holes in there… if stuff comes out, the sap is running.

And so began my muse: trees. A really broad scoping thought, I know. There are a whack load of thoughts about trees out there, but let’s just touch on it, shall we? We have just over an acre and a half of “forest” on our property. No real trails. Thick with bush and trees “au naturel”. Trees rot and fall and succumb to various viruses and afflictions. We have a big one near the chicken coop that needs to come down. We have a large surround of cedars which is quite nice coverage for the wind… the birds love them too. Not to mention the vast trail systems here in Ontario. Or the Crown Land and woods literally everywhere. Rain forests of central America? Let’s not even go there. Needless to say, we have a lot of trees in our world.

Photo: Matt Artz via Unsplash

We plant 600 million trees annually in Canada… and I don’t know if that includes all the private trees we throw in the ground or not. I plan to add a few fruit trees to our place — which I hope will add to the diversity. The birds will probably get to the fruit before I do. We were chit chatting about tree planting a few weeks ago… apparently it is not for the faint of heart. True planters hike through unkept wilderness fighting off heat, sweat, mosquitoes and other menacing buggies. Not to mention scrapes bumps and bruises from branches and brambles along the way. I’m sure there is mud too. Nope… not for me. A few holes in open field with my nursery raised apple tree and I have done my part, right?

Still, trees are pretty cool. They communicate not only to their surroundings, but to each other through chemical signals and can warp sound waves to change what we hear. Research suggests that being around trees is good for our mental and social well-being. A study conducted by the University of Illinois and the University of Hong Kong found that the denser the forest, the lower the stress. Research also suggests that nature experiences help us to feel kinder toward others. This is partly because they release chemicals called phytoncides. When we breathe them in, it can reduce blood pressure, lower anxiety levels, and increase pain threshold. I often tell the hubby I do love a good “soak” in the forest. Must be all the chemicals I breathe in. Or maybe it’s just the quiet.

“The Tree of Life”

It’s no wonder that the tree has been a symbol for life across so many genres of study. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Seen it as a jewellery piece or art deco. Obviously branches and life giving oxygen are intertwined within the symbol. “I am the vine, you are the branches”. The biggest connection, and my original thought process for this post, was the Garden of Eden and the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Such a critical piece of our Christian heritage. I cannot imagine living in a perfect world — the perfect garden — with its abundance of fruit and colours and wildlife — and it all being lost because of selfish desires.

We have just tastes of it now — maple trees and sweet sap. Apple trees and rich fruit. Mighty oaks and cedars that tower and protect us from wind. The colours of fall leaves or the beauty of teak and mahogany. How marvelous is “the tree”. We take it for granted. We have so many. They are so common. We don’t see the forest for the trees. We must take the time.

Deeper still, we must think about why the Creator of the world chose a tree to symbolize life for us. Why was a tree the center of the Garden? Why was the Saviour crucified on “a tree”? Why do we brush them off as so common place that they aren’t appreciated? We burn them up and cut them down with abandon. I could go on. A tree hugger muse this week which could be expanded way beyond these short thoughts. Yet, I hope it sparks some deeper thinking and research for you. Or at least makes you look up at the trees (and beyond).

Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Pexels.com

Footprints in the Snow

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Hello again, my beloveds! Sorry we missed you last week… we were recouping from a family wedding in chilly Minnesota! It was a whirlwind trip with weather to boot! Minus 35 with wind chills… but we were surrounded by warm hearts and warm hugs. (Not to mention a new baby to cuddle and a new bride to congratulate!) Still, I was happy to get back to “warm” Canada and a light dusting of snow. And if you’ve been following along on our Instagram stories, you’ll notice we had lots of visitors. The bird feeder has been well attended recently.

It has been fun to see the footprints in the snow. Unfortunately, the snow is now crunchy and I missed taking photos of all the little markings, but it’s what I have been musing about. Of course, in addition to my own, the dog’s five little beans have been all over the property! The squirrels have definitely been to and from the barn along the rim of the barn roof to their favourite pine trees… it’s been fun to see hops versus running lines. I swear I saw hooves near the coop once. Perhaps wishful thinking that deer have taken short-cuts through our woods. Luckily no fox or coyotes have left their mark.

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) tracks in fresh snow.

My favourite, however, have been the teeny tiny little three toed markings of the hopping songbirds. There are a mass of them under the bird feeders, of course, but a few distinct lines have been along my porch … more than likely for the citrus or suet crumbles left on the railings. They’re like a little stick road travelling along the patch of white that secretly disappears on dry land. Super cute. I wish I had my own photos to show you!

While we were away, the hubby did capture this photo in the deep snow of our airbnb! Bunnies! Not ours, but wild ones braving the Midwest freeze!

So what can we observe from the diversity of my little visitors and the marks they leave? First, I am struck by the differences. Thick hops, quick little lines of the squirrels and tiny birds. The dog prints are thick with pad and nail marks. The family boots leave their own treads in various sizes. I’m sure we’d find more if we were isolated on a trail somewhere. Each with their own unique story. Bunnies hopping from a safe shelter to find food. Birds lightly treading – nervously close to my front door. Deer taking a quick short cut. Bears? 

I’m reminded that even my own family have their unique identity. Not only evident by the shoes they wear, but also in the lives we lead. Where our shoes take us. We each have our own distinct story to tell. God has made each of us wholly unique — with a special plan for each of us. He has not given us a path to follow, but a wide open, snow-covered field to make our own marks in. Perhaps a prompting by the Holy Spirit leads us in a straight path to safe hiding or a bountiful bird feeder – amass with other fellow footprint makers. Sometimes we tread lightly, other times we leave a deep mark that makes a definite imprint for others to see. I marvel at it. Then, all too quickly the snow disappears and our “marks” are wiped out. This doesn’t mean we were not there, of course, it just means we’ve come by in secret. Carrying out the day to day without recognition. 

So next time you see fingerprints on the window, or footprints in the snow, or tire tracks in the spring mud, take heed, knowing that Someone sees, and He knows the path you are on, and is waiting at the end when the wind drives the snow away. Be blessed !

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com