maple syrup – Catching Marbles

You ever have one of those moments when you’re driving down the road and you see an interesting sign but you’re on your way somewhere else and don’t have the leisure to go poke at something? That’s what happened the day I hiked the Ponamah Bog. I was driving there when I saw a sign promising maple syrup which just by coincidence I’d run out of earlier that day on a sweet batch of wheat pancakes. I tried to make a note in my head to remember on my way back but that’s always a super dicey prospect when you have flagrantly untreated ADD.

Well! You wouldn’t believe it but several hours later I was still hankering for maple syrup when I remembered to look for the sign on the way back. It’s a small sign and it points vaguely down a country road with the instruction that it was a mile down said road from the sign. Oh boy. I just love these little sketchy adventures I go on by my lonesome.

I drove for quite a while until I came to an intersection. The sign didn’t say anything about an intersection. Had I gone too far? No! For there was another sign promising I was close! And so I was.

I drove into a small parking lot of what was clearly a farm but there wasn’t a soul about. It said something about a gift shop but it looked dark. I slinked uncertainly up to the door which had one of those digital number locks on it. This was not feeling great…. so I peered in through what looked like a darkened window and guess what? I saw the cutest damn gift shop I’d ever seen! So I tried the door handle and it wasn’t locked! I walked into a tiny one room temple to the glory of maple syrup.

Here I found all color variations of maple syrup in every size from adorable nips to a full gallon. And there was flavored maple syrup! In coffee and cinnamon. And maple syrup BBQ sauces, maple salt water taffy, honey, fresh eggs, cute NH related swag… this place knew I was coming.

I grabbed a half gallon of maple syrup like I was the goddamn ham burglar. And those sweet little maple leaf shaped cookie cutters! Obviously I needed eggs too and a teeny tiny whisk because it was shiny.

Then I didn’t know what to do because how was I to pay for this? I muttered to myself getting distracted as I wandered to what sort of looked like a counter. There I found detailed instructions on how and where to leave exact change (or a check but c’mon I’m not 80.)

This place was so adorable… I just can’t. If you’re in the area and in need of maple anything this is your place. You need to come here.

Tonight I scored the jackpot – a friend’s house to sleep at. I arrived at the residence of a certain Emily. She was living with her boyfriend Nathan, his two kids, and her own similarly aged daughter. The house was going through a tremendous amount of growing pains as its kitchen was being remodeled, as well as bits and pieces of the rest of the house. They apologized immediately for the mess, but I understood. Renovations are never a tidy process.

I ended up staying three days and taking a bit of a break here. Despite having three kids this place was calm and comforting. The children were all remarkably well-behaved and intelligent (and yes, I do consider most children to be numb as sticks so this is quite a compliment.) Nathan had decorated the house with his own unique artwork, which we spent quite awhile admiring, and Emily wowed me with her fantastic vegan cooking. As if that wasn’t cool enough they had two outrageously friendly and laid back Tonkinese cats and an adorable little skunk who came out nightly to eat.

I even enjoyed their children who delighted in making chalk art on the rock pathway outside and who dug up worms by the hundreds, squealing at them with wonder. Of course the eldest, a boy, felt the need to fill his sister’s Barbie car with worms before burying the whole thing in the back yard while she cried. It wasn’t long though before the girls found themselves distracted by playing with their own batch of worms, rolling them in the chalk until they came out all sorts of pretty colors (and incidentally stopped moving.)

Later the kids gave us one more hearty laugh as one of the girls asked for a bath. “Teacher says I need one. She washed me up a bit but said I still needed a bath. She washed me with a hose outside!” The children were no dirtier than an average mud-loving child, despite the anecdote making it sound so bad. Luckily everyone was still laughing.

After my visit I was well rested and thanked my hosts with a small parting gift from the Jeep – possum plushie that had ridden on the dash across the whole country.

I also went to visit Jesse during this time. She had promised me dinner and she didn’t squelch on this promise in the least bit. I was treated to a delicious feast of salad, chicken, rice, and a dessert to die for, composed of cinnamon French toast topped with melting vanilla ice cream and maple syrup.

Jesse is an opinionated and driven woman with a creative business sense. She was currently running a small farm and selling chicks, chicken-feathered earrings, and dried chicken feet to anyone that wanted them. I passed on the chicks and the feet, though we did purchase some feathered earrings which were well-made from quality materials. She had fun playing Wii into the night. I sort of played too, though I have played Wii only once in my life, and the last video game before that was probably played when I was still in grade school. Suffice to say video games have always been beyond me. I was vibrantly dizzy and nauseous and so tired by the end of the night but that’s alright, I smiled none-the-less.

***I apologize for any missing photos and galleries as I continue to work getting Catching Marbles fully migrated to a new host. Please come back soon for restored photos and thank you for your patience!***

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Tag: maple syrup

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