Super Early Spring!
This winter has been super mild. With the exception of a 2 week long storm in January, we have had a lovely winter. Seeing Crocus' flowers bloom in February was impressive, and also meant the start of Maple Sugar season was indeed early. I was boiling sap on the 11th of February! I am still collecting sap now too, but some days it is slow. So far from my single maple sugar tree, with a single tap I have collected six, fifteen gallon buckets of sap. I have boiled some of it down, and plan on boiling it down to finished bottles at the end of the collection period. Luckily maple syrup is one such thing that can be processed in stages to reduce it, and reduce it more.
I did buy a better boiling pan this year, as seen above, which can sit on my fire pit. I can use wood fire, or propane to boil it. In this case I was using my propane burner which will boil down 15 gallons in about 4 hours.
In other news, my birthday was lovely and warm. I purchased a new pillow for Whisperin' on my birthday, as she was not getting good sleep in the Helix bed with her old pillow. I wanted her to be comfortable and have a good sleep. The Helix bed was a huge dissappointment, as we spent $2700 on it last year and it only lasted about 6 months before both of us began feeling it was uncomfortable. We did end up getting a Beautyrest in February which seems to be quite comfortable. And best of all, it has real metal springs. Not that memory foam stuff. Makes bouncing fun.
My little wolf pup has been super cute. It is lovely being a Dad and I am so grateful for the oppertunity. It has so changed my life and I enjoy every second of it. In the .gif's above you can see him playing Peek-a-boo on a February walk around the block, and also carrying a favorite toy around the Library. He is already taking steps and trying to talk and have conversations with us.
We for sure plan on adventuring a lot this year, like last year. We will likely need to invest in a wagon for the little pup however, as carryign him will eventually not be possible on longer hikes. I just hope that the wagon can handle roots and rougher trails. I guess it will have to have larger tires!
Here we are exploring Reinstein Woods nature preserve near Buffalo, NY. We found this freshly cut log which had fallen over the winter. I took the time to count the rings and came up with exactly 200. Tho there was a period where the rings were super close so maybe it was as much as 5 years older. Very cool! Reminds me of the wood dating techniques being used on The Curse of Oak Island show, which is a great show we enjoy. It is super cool knowing the history books are wrong, and Europeans did sail to America well before Columbus.
We also found evidence of recent Beaver activity. Very neat to see in Western New York near the city. Up in Canada I encountered many beavers, and in some cases had to actually destroy beaver dams that were built across trails on Hay Creek 'road'. We may have even seen the beavers swimming but it was hard to tell.
This was for sure their den however. I am so happy there have been already so many great days for exploring the wilderness so far this year. I just hope this year isn't going to be too hot. I look forward for more Orienteering as well. The results of 2023's Orienteering map hikes have yet to be posted, but I look forward to seeing our names on the list!
It is super fun watching my little guy explore the world around him. I was super happy to let him explore, and before his first birthday he has already been on a train engine, inside the cockpit of a C-130 plane, and had his feet in two of the Great Lakes!
He is for sure going to have a lot of experiences!
Having the water of Lake Erie be so warm that in early March a baby can have their bare feet in it, is amazing. Now, I am not saying that man made global warming is a thing, indeed not, but it does seem that the global weather patterns have been a little unusual lately. I, of course, have offered my famous CADPAT boonie hat to my son to protect him from the suns rays however, not to mention standing so he is in a shadow.
We also recently went to the Alabama Swamp where we saw a lot of birds and I noticed a film crew who were maybe filming a wildlife documentary?
I know this weekend will be rainy and boring, but I do plan to do some major work on the van. For adventure awaits and the van must be prepared! There is talk of a camping trip this year with the kids, and perhaps a road trip to stay at a fun location, in the coming weeks too! I am looking forward to adventure!