Sugaring off

A painting tells a story

Grandma Moses enjoyed telling stories about what her life was like when she was a little girl. But instead of using words, she told her stories in her paintings.

This story is about how, at the end of winter on the farm, her family would collect sap from the maple trees and make maple syrup.

First they'd tap the trees and let the sap drip into buckets. Every morning and night the buckets had to be checked to see if the sap was "running."

An ox cart helped to bring in heavy loads of sap from trees deep in the forest.

The sap was boiled and boiled in big kettles outside. They needed lots of wood to keep the fires going.

Some of the hot syrup was poured on the snow to make maple candy-a special treat.

Meanwhile, kids ran and played . . .

the dogs watched and sniffed . . .

and there was still time for a sleigh ride.

That night the job of boiling down the sap would be finished inside on the kitchen stove.

Then Grandma Moses would have all the syrup she wanted to eat on her buckwheat cakes in the morning.

It's a happy story of life on the farm long, long ago.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Nov/Dec 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved