Neighborhood

a sap gathering bucket with a ziploc bag of maple candy in it

This is a photo of a bucket that hangs on my side porch. It’s good for keeping food drop-off away from squirrels. The first week I was here someone left some cookies for me at my side door. They were eaten by squirrels before I could get to them.

I have also replaced my front porch mailbox with a basket which is apparently what you do in this neighborhood. I wasn’t even consciously aware of it, I just decided that might look good one day and then when I went on my walk I noticed many other people had done this. I’m sure it crept into my mind via osmosis. It’s weird being in a neighborhood but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

This bucket is full of maple candy. There is a maple syrup/sugaring concern in town which is run by our former librarian’s family. I used to get maple candy at the library, now it (sometimes) gets delivered. Sometimes I leave money out, sometimes bubble wrap. When I moved I had a lot of leftover bubble wrap. Silloway Maple needs bubble wrap to ship their syrup and candy around the country. I leave a large bag of bubble wrap on the side porch, I come back and there is some maple candy in it. It’s a good trade.