SWITCHBACKS // The Camp
EXCERPT //
“If my grandfather had been the author of the Ten Commandments, there would have been eleven. The Eleventh: Thou Shalt Not Be Idle.
When the time of year arrived for huddling indoors, post the chaos of the holidays and all of the Happy New Year wishes, when people could finally curl up fireside, close their eyes between chapters, and daydream, my grandfather never sat down. As life plateaued and everyone else waited for ivory and purple crocuses to dot cold earth outside and morning birds to sing the world into spring, he cleaned closets, reorganized basement shelves, polished knotty pine paneling, and logged numbers into a daily temperature chart, watching for a specific rhythm to develop in the weather.
Sap flows from maple trees best when temperatures dip to below freezing at night and rise during the day to linger above the freezing point for several hours. When my grandfather found what he was looking for, he would snatch up the black rotary phone in the hallway, phone workers, and get his maple sugar camp underway overnight.”
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