Page 73 - Herioter 2020

Maple Syrup When I was younger, my family would The symphony of the drops of sap into
the tin buckets. The uniformity of the
go to Canada every summer. We stayed
Waffles, pancakes, French toast, ice with our grandparents who lived about trees. The blanket of perfectly set snow.
cream and, my favourite, cocktail 5 minutes away from a ‘sugar bush’, We finally were seeing what we had
sausages. All foods that are improved which is a forest of maple trees. Summer wanted to for so long, these magical
immensely when maple syrup is added is too hot for the maple syrup harvest, trees we had heard so much about. The
to them. A huge advantage of having a so in the 12 years of visiting, we never stillness was almost unnerving. The only
Canadian mother was that this sweet, got to experience nor see the process noise came from our footsteps deep in
viscous, golden nectar called maple syrup of how maple syrup went from tree to the fluffy snow, crunching yet feeling like
was introduced to me from a young age. jar. Instead, our grandparents would sit walking on cushions. A rare chirp from a
A downside of this was that I was always us down and tell us all their mystical, bird broke this eerie yet now comforting
forced to be polite and sparse with my magical maple syrup stories from that silence. Following the owner of the sugar
maple syrup usage, unlike friends at past winter - our imaginations could bush - the nicest man I have ever met
sleepovers who would pour their “maple picture it as if we had been there. “We’ll - we tapped our first maple tree. Sap
flavoured” syrup over their pancakes in come in the winter sometime soon” flowed from the wound we created down
abundance. My mother would often say would be our parents’ response after onto our outstretched tongues. This
that maple syrup was so special that it every outbreak of begging to see the wound would be our mark on this tree
must be treated with respect. I did not snowy scenery of wintertime Canada. forever yet the beauty of the tapping
understand why she was describing it like The origin of maple syrup comes from process is that it is completely healthy for
a person because when I was young I just a story about a married first-nations the tree. Not only could we experience
thought that was her excuse to not have our dream from when we were little but
constant trips to buy it from Sainsbury’s couple. The wife left a bucket under a now we could also respect the life around
plus saving our teeth from all that sugar. tree to remind herself to get water in the us and the culture embedded into it. Just
morning and when the husband got back
This of course only fuelled my sisters to the house that night from hunting, as that man had lodged his axe into the
and I to want it more. Every time her he lodged his axe into the tree that the tree to discover maple syrup, we did so
back turned or she left the room, the bucket was resting under. In the morning, with our spiles, recreating a moment in
race began - who could get more syrup the wife came out to get the bucket to history so important to the first people in
on whilst being silent enough not to get fill it up with water but instead found it this land.
noticed. Hearts thumped in our chests as You see, we were in Canada in March and
midway through drowning our pancakes already full. She boiled the liquid and it were able to witness this breath-taking
her footsteps could be heard getting turned a dark, golden colour with a sweet scenery only because our grandma had
closer and closer. Yes, we were often taste. By luck, this couple had managed passed away, just six weeks after our
caught - but when not, it felt like we to create maple syrup! This was just one grandpa died. They had left us but with
had won the lottery. Strangely, Mum’s of the many tales we were told by our their leaving, they gave us a final gift.
brainwashing worked - to this day I grandma as we walked around a lake near A gift that I will always remember. A
impose my own maple syrup rationing in her home. She also often told us that in gift that helped us celebrate their lives
case I get yelled at for overstepping the the winter, the lake would completely and changed for a moment, that time
maple syrup limit. But was every single freeze over and you could walk out onto of sadness into feelings of happiness.
drop really that special? it to as far as the eye can see. All these Our grandparents had always wanted
crazy winter events were so foreign to their Scottish grandchildren to share
us Southern Scottish kids that it only that much-fantasised moment and
made us pester our parents even more unbeknownst to them, they gave us it.
by demanding a return trip that very next This was a time to remember and cherish.
winter, hoping that one day we could Now, when I pour my maple syrup on my
walk through the sugar bush or walk pancakes, I can understand why for so
along the frozen lake that we spent hours many years my mum restricted us from
swimming in. the substantial helpings that our friends
I couldn’t believe my eyes. After took. It takes 35 to 40 litres of maple sap
returning to Canada in late March of to make just 1 litre of maple syrup and
2015, where thick snow still flooded the trees only give up 7 percent of their sap
streets and the rebirth of life was yet to per season. Four years ago, I was lucky
be seen, our parents had finally taken us to have been able to taste drips of that
to the sugar bush. Years of storytelling 7 percent because of my grandparents.
about this fantastical forest and at last Maple syrup is something I will always be
here it was surrounding us. The large grateful for, the actual taste of my very
trees reached up to the stars, branches special memories - even if I still gleefully
covered with a thick white coat, looking pour as much of it on to my pancakes as I
down on us like kids staring at the cars can when my mum leaves the room.
below them out of an airplane window. Ben Wilson (S5)

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