The other day, before I left for Germany, I was reading Tim's post over at Ramblings about the Maple Sugar Festival he visited in Audubon, PA. And that reminded me I had a Maple Syrup post on my back burner. I told him I'd direct you to his post on how the Native Americans made maple syrup in our colonial times.
It was so Soulful for me because I had grown up in Michigan and actually remember seeing trees being tapped for syrup. But Wiki says "the province of Quebec in Canada is by far the world's largest producer of maple syrup, producing 15,600,000 litres in 2001 - about four times as much as all U.S. production combined."
Once we returned home from the cruise, I promptly went to eBay and bought the above tap AND this real syrup bucket. The tap is in one of our shadow boxes as a momento of that trip. The bucket is in our basement bathroom, holding dried flowers.
Interestingly, just this past week I was reading the day's article from DailyOM about Clarity of Soul and how we need to periodically clear our energetic chakra fields of clutter. "Clearing your chakras and your aura restores and strengthens your connection to yourself and your divine inner wisdom. Unfettered by energetic baggage masquerading as fear, pain, and self-hatred, your consciousness is once again free to grow."
The article goes on the say, "Visualize your first chakra, situated near the tailbone, and imagine if you will, a valve opening there, much like a faucet. Imagine a cord dropping from your tailbone deep into Mother Earth and let everything that is stagnant within you flow through it. Let go of old energy, inactive thoughts, and anything else that no longer serves you. Ask the earth to accept what you are offering by turning this old energy into light."
Tapping into Mother Earth, indeed! She's a good Mama and wants to take care of us. Let's make sure we take good care of her in return!
So cool! I love your words and photos. So colorful.
ReplyDeleteI did that Daily OM meditation in the bathtub last night! I love the images too.
In spring time, there are a lot of sugarshacks where we can party on maple syrup delicacies and Quebec traditional food. The region called Beauce, just between Quebec City and and Maine Lines is among the most famous for its maple products. That's really pleasant that you experienced it there.
ReplyDeleteNothing like real Canadian maple syrup! Or any maple syrup! I'm sure I've consumed gallons of it during my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you used the photo of your red syrup bucket to go with the first chakra, which is also red.
I really must try to sit down and do the chakra clearing some time - too much "old energy and inactive thoughts" bogging me down lately. Let's just blame it on Mercury. :-)
For me, I still can't fathom how maple syrup is extracted. I've never been to the East Coast of Canada or States - Ohio is my furthest travels. It still boggles my mind and of course when I pass maple trees here in Vancouver, I usually ask questions like this to P. He laughs a bit but it's because I've never seen or experienced what it all looks like...
ReplyDeleteGinnie, I learn a lot about people and life through reading your posts. Keep doing what you're doing. :)
ReplyDeleteRuth: Don't you love that DailyOM?!
ReplyDeleteMei: I wonder if that's the place we visited? It had a sugarshack and sure was fun (and catered to tourists, of course).
Christina: I got the DailyOM from you, incidentally! So that connection is thanks to you. Didn't make the connection with the "red," however. Cool!
Expat: I'm not sure I can figure it out either but I sure love the end result :)
Tim: Thanks for your vote of confidence. We all need it, don't we! And thanks for your post that started me rolling on mine :)
I love how I learn new stuff from you!
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautigul metaphorical post Ginnie. Coming from that region (grew up at the border of the province of Quebec) I even remember us tapping the maples we had in the driveway and once even cooked the sap to make the "Tire" on snow (cook it longer than syrup and it becomes a wonderful sweet caramel when it touches the cold snow). BTW, excellent to sweeten just about anything and very healthy.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Tire on snow! Sounds worth trying, definitely. I LOVE maple syrup but hardly ever have syrup at all---oh, except for when we take Nicholas to Waffle House once or twice a month. Wish THAT were maple syrup!
ReplyDeleteNice post Ginnie! I love maple syrup, tire on snow, maple butter, maple pie... In fact, one of my chakras soaks in maple syrup... kiring... kiring... maple kiring...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Clo. One of your chakras soaking in maple syrup? That sounds delicious!
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