Ice Fishing

My life is full of nights in which I am woken on and off by an inexplicably restless, teething, hungry baby. My mornings are early, bleary, stumbling affairs, starting usually either with a grumpy infant or a hungry (but still picky) 4 year old. Of course they take turns waking each other and rouse everyone else before they are ready. My days are hectic with schooling, an active toddler, and the never-ending needs of my family. My evenings run late, extended by dealing with mealtime aftermath, teaching responsibilities, cleaning, anything needing dealt with that can't be done with a little one endangering himself near-constantly, or simply "wasted" on down-time with my husband for the sake of sanity. Plus, I'm one of those weirdos who takes forever to drift off to sleep, and who sleeps lightly. This leaves me with precious few and highly interrupted hours of sleep, and big limits on what I can set out to do. 

Lately, I've been getting a touch of cabin fever too, due to the cold temperatures and the unusual amounts of snow this winter. It's hard to bundle up 5 kids in below-zero weather with wind chill advisories, especially a squirmy, non-compliant baby, and a 4 year old who pretends he can't do anything and melts down just for the sake of attention. We've done some hiking, but since the littlest one is being carried, it's hard to gauge how warm he is when we're being active, so that's been limited.

It's almost time to tap trees and boil sap for syrup. The many downed limbs from the back-to-back storms need to be moved from the area where daffodils will soon push up through the soil in a few weeks. A coop (or chicken fortress) will have to be constructed if we are to get back into egg production. So I have started thinking about the long list of things that need done outdoors this summer too, and how I've "lost" the last three summers, the first to painting at the old house, the second to being pregnant, and the third to tending a needy infant. I sure hope to make up for some lost time this year, but a soon-to-be one-year-old on our land doesn't hold out much promise for that. 

In any case, I can always live vicariously through my neighbors. They contacted us to ask permission to ice fish on our pond. They find the fish firmer and tastier in the winter. We, of course, obliged. And coming home from Mass we saw them, all bundled up, out on the ice with their dogs and fishing gear. I must admit to being a tad bit jealous. They informed my husband that the ice is 10 inches thick! It stands to reason, considering that the pond's been frozen over for a little over a month. But that's impressive, seeing as it could hold a car!

Now I want to ice fish or ice skate, but I haven't done either for years. The kids would get a kick out of slipping across the ice in their boots too. It would give them a new perspective of the lake. I suppose that the holes in the ice won't freeze over to the same depth as the rest though, at least not right away. So I guess it's not a good idea to take them out. That's fine, because the reality is that it won't happen anyway. 

Maybe I can get our neighbors to make maple syrup this month and give us a cut, because it's looking unlikely that I'll be able to pull that off this year either, although I AM ruminating about it.  But then, they keep bees, so I suppose they would not be as motivated as I am. Syrup sells for $50 or more a gallon around here!