It is spring, and the snow is serious about melting, as can been seen from the pictures.
At our home, the advent of spring also means the beginning of maple syrup production! Thursday morning I gathered the sap from the dozen trees we tapped this year and began boiling. About 20 litres of sap boiled and boiled and boiled until I was left with about three cups of syrup. Friday evening we served the syrup on pancakes. Delicious!
I really enjoy doing this for several reasons. First, it gives me an excuse to go outside on nice sunny days, as that’s when the sap flows. 
Also, it is very much encouraging to have a harvest at this time of year, when nothing has been growing (except the snow piles) for close to half a year.
A random fact: In 2006, Quebec exported over 30 million litres of syrup, worth over 180 million dollars. We are pretty sweet people, aren’t we?
Maple syrup is one of the healthiest sweeteners available (and in my opinion, the tastiest).
Percentage of Daily Value (DV) per 60 ml serving (copied from Agriculture Canada):
| Elements | Maple syrup | Honey | Sugar | Brown sugar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manganese | 100% | 3% | 0% | 9% |
| Riboflavin | 37% | 2% | 1% | 0% |
| Zinc | 18% | 2% | 0% | 1% |
| Magnesium | 7% | 1% | 0% | 7% |
| Calcium | 5% | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| Potassium | 5% | 1% | 0% | 6% |
| Calories | 217 | 261 | 196 | 211 |
Psalm 119 verse 103 says, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” This is a reminder to me how important the Word of God is in our daily lives. It must be daily our delight and delectation. It should be our chief source of joy and pleasure. But how often do we forget! May we learn to say with Job, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.” – Job 23:12