When the Spring is in the offing,
And the early birds are freezing,
When one-half the folks are coughing,
And the other half are sneezing;
When the sun is getting higher,
Though the fact’s hard to remember;
And you huddle by the fire
Twice as cold as in December;
Life and all its cares would crush us,
Floor us in a brace of shakes,
If it weren’t for the luscious
Maple syrup on the cakes.
But a fellow keeps postponing
Day by day his preparation
For the final telephoning
For old Charon’s transportation.
Though he knows the Spring is lying
And his grippe is undiminished,
Still he does put off his dying
Till that can of syrup’s finished.
Then, at last, the north winds waver,
And the sleeping Spring awakes;
But we know the true lifesaver
Was the syrup on the cakes!
~ Walter G. Doty
(The Christian Advocate, March 22, 1917)
delicious poem!♥
It reminds me so much of my New England roots! ♡
Happy Spring Barbara!
Happy Spring, Janet!
It might be spring officially, but here, it still feels cold and gray to me. And don’t get me started on the high winds! Happy Spring Equinox to you, Barbara.
Cold and gray on the first day of spring is what seems normal to me, having lived most of my life in Connecticut. And a windy March, too! Hang in there, Debbie! Happy Spring!
Ha, love the poem. Syrup is on the boil hereabouts, though the season is about done. I do love me a dark amber, yum!
The darker the better! It seemed like the season was coming a little earlier in the years before I left Connecticut, probably due to climate change.
Maple syrup is my addiction that I put in my morning coffee. I think those buckets are very interesting and the poem is lovely. Hope your first day of spring is as sweet as maple syrup!
Oh my goodness, you have given me an idea! I wonder what maple syrup would taste like in my tea? We don’t see those metal sap buckets from the ‘good old days’ much any more. Plastic tubing systems run from the trees to the sugar houses and make the woods look like an untidy mess.
That was a fun poem Barbara. I remember your post about visiting where they make the maple syrup and you showed the tree taps too. I wanted to see this at Oakwoods Metropark when it was advertised, but we had that ice storm – next year hopefully will be a tamer Winter. Happy Spring Equinox to you!
Did you ever get to see them make maple syrup when you were a child living in Canada? Happy Spring Equinox, my friend!
No, I did not get to see that Barbara, even though we had a few field trips for school and for when I was in Brownies. We went on a field trip here in the States to Upland Hills Farm, a working farm, but did not see them collect/make maple syrup, but I recall them putting maple into the snow and making maple candy. It’s a chilly start to Spring for us the next two weeks – wintry mix three times over the next three days. I’m glad I got out twice last week!
Once when I was a child and we were camping somewhere in northern New England, we stopped at a little general store and each bought a small box maple sugar candy shaped like little maple leaves. I had never had them before and thought they were so delicious I foolishly ate the whole box in one sitting. Soon I got very sick to my stomach. I never ate another one! But I still love maple syrup on my (gluten-free) pancakes.
All that sugar – you had no idea the reaction you would have to it. I’ll bet you were awake many more hours past your bedtime too! You are a true New Englander all these years later.
Lol — every time I see a package of those candies in a store I start feeling a little nauseous, even after all these years!
Lovely, fun poem, Barbara!
Thank you, Donna!