A Drippy Outlook

A garbage can full of, water?

Some sort of sick dialysis for trees?

An outdoor incinerator?

And a jar of dark goo?

If it looks like nothing, it must be.  Or so might conclude the untrained eye, upon assembling these disparate pictures of a Spring tradition in Minnesota.  But we know, of course, that this is a contemporary take on an old practice, a mode of survival for our ancestors and families of the non-so-distant past.

No doubt, this Spring has been among the oddities of what is otherwise a cherished time in the land of 10,000 lakes.  But do not hasten to call it a disappointment.  What began here as a project to collect a dozen gallons of maple sap has blossomed into a battle to contain more than 100.

In less than two weeks, two large plastic garbage cans and about 20 pails of slightly sweet water will be converted into one of God's treasures for the creative, unrelenting, stubborn minds of Northern dwellers.

But don't be confused if it all seems more than a little strange.  Just avert your eyes.  Nothing to see here.