Yesterday, my afternoon walk with the dog felt like a mid-March walk, and here we are, in the middle of February. The little swamp not far from our house is still frozen and surrounded by snow as is the stream across the street. But the sides of the road are free from snow, and the weather was so warm that the dirt on the shoulders was muddy, and the dog’s paws were a mess. (Thank goodness there is plenty of snow in the backyard, where he can run off the dirt before he comes inside.)

As we were walking down the Holmes Road, a blue truck pulled along side of us. It was Mike Smith of Mike’s Maple House.

He rolled down his window. “I’ve tapped 250 trees.”

My pulse quickened. “Are you boiling yet?”

“Nope, the sap ain’t running very good.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Mike nodded. “Let me tell you, it’s not much fun tromping through the snow in the woods.”

I shook my head in sympathy and waved as he pulled past me. I bet it’s not much fun being in the woods right now. The snow is slushy and loose, not quite deep enough for snowshoes but too deep to walk comfortably.

The weather has been so mild this winter. What kind of syrup season will it be? Two years ago, we had a winter very similar to this, and maple syrup season lasted two weeks rather than the usual four or five.

Well, only time will tell, but it seems as though sometime soon, Mike Smith will have enough sap so that he can start boiling.