Maple Syrup Memories

I always think of my grandpa at this time of year and when he used to tap the maple trees on his property and gather the sap by hand to make maple syrup. He had a small sugar shack where he would set up his fire and boiling pan. He would spend hours there gathering the buckets by hand and boiling the sap. We would always go there to visit and we enjoyed drinking the pure sweet sap from the buckets. I can still remember the smell of the sap boiling over the fire. I also remember making maple syrup toffee by pouring the hot syrup over the clean snow. He would always make enough syrup to last us the entire year until he made it again. His sugar shack still stands and my dad has made maple syrup there except for this year. He is finding it to be too much work at his age now. Other maple syrup just doesn't taste the same.