~Maple Festival~

This week Hawthorne Valley School held its annual Maple Festival, where we boil down hundreds of gallons of sap the kids have collected over the 2 weeks previous.  The boiling down takes place in the context of a joyful gathering, with music, ceremony, thanks-giving, and beautifying of the forest and especially maple trees.  The younger students invite the VSP over to join in, so we took the morning and afternoon to share in their special day.

It was a wonderful, and tasty, event, with much child energy and nature reverence.  Lovely!

Crazy Dancin' Nick

Boiling vats

 Group shot

 Making maple-dough-mellows...

 ...and toasting them

Thanks-giving to the trees

Making gnome houses for the maple tree spirits

Lovely

With great gratitude,

Eka