Chilly, rainy days. Freezing nights. Pretty nasty weather by anyone’s standards, but one species is loving it: The sugar maple tree (and the person who collects its sap).

Maple sap runs best when the temperatures reach the upper 30s during the day and go below freezing at night, which makes this week’s weather in Mineral Point pretty good, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Our yard has three mature maple trees. Not sure what kind, but the sap is flowing and we are collecting. About 40 gallons of sap boil down to one gallon of pure maple syrup. Judging from what we have collected so far, we have one-half gallon down, 39½ to go.

If you want to skip the drilling, collecting and boiling and enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor, head to Cooks Woods in Fennimore. They are hosting their annual maple syrup open house Saturday, April 6, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Contributed by Susan Webb