Three Saps

 Day 3-

The day after thanksgiving, a day of reflection and digestion. A day of shopping  and the breaking point of the holidays. The winter is upon us, December 21st seems so close. Today was my first day taking up a new family tradition. My father is one for  activities, weather it be cooking, hiking or canning pickles my father is up and ready at the sound of any activity. Last year he found a recipe for  for making chap stick in the New Mexico monthly magazine. Elbow grease  and  hard labor  go into making this wondrous concoction. This tradition started last year. I have always wondered how this holiday treat is started.

So  up early in the morning I awake, with my sweatpants applied and my swiss army pocket knife in my hand. We start down for the forest, dodging the trees and cacti down the hill. My father gives Drew and I a quick overview of what we have to do. Witch seemed pretty easy at first but turned into a real  challenge. Finding the wounds in the trees and cutting off the dry or wet sap seemed pretty straight forward. But with the addition  of rocks thorns and cacti surrounding the trees made it more  of a challenge. Also  with the idea that my hand could be stuck together by the end of the day. One by one the big chunks of sap come flying off. The amazing aroma of the sap makes it really feel like the holidays.


We make our way up to the top of the hill, with a bucket full of sap and a shoe full of thorns. I may not have been the most enthusiastic about the journey but now that I look back I am glad I did it.


NOAH