Memoir Writing Prompt: What special annual springtime event do you remember from your childhood?

It’s mid-March, which means in upper Pennsylvania, the Maple sap running is just about over. My father collected sap in the early hours of the late February/early March mornings before he went to work. Sometimes I woke early enough to go with him at 4:00 a.m. when he replaced the pails of frozen sap on each tree with empty pails to catch the running sap of the day. Most farmers around had Sugar Shacks where they cooked the sap. Not Daddy. He loaded the icy pails onto the wagon behind the tractor and took them to the orchard where he had a blazing fire in the cinderblock firepit. Over the fire sat a huge rectangular tray about 8” deep. There, Daddy turned the pails upside down until the heat loosened the ice from the sides. I wish I had a picture of the pail ice cubes standing in order in the tray.

While Daddy worked at the factory all day, Mom kept the fire in the orchard going. When Daddy got home from work, he put dozens of egg whites into the boiling sap. As the whites boiled, Daddy skimmed off the impurities that came with the froth. Maple syrup from the Sheer farm was a clear amber color with a slightly smoky flavor. Yum. I have never tasted Maple syrup like that again.

Memoir Writing Prompt: What annual springtime event did you share with one of your parents or a grandparent? Or maybe you did it by yourself, but it could only be done in the springtime? Write about it.

Today’s Writing Prompt: What new annual springtime ritual/event have you been doing lately?

Enjoy writing today for your generations to come.