Discovering By Accident

This icicle caught my attention this morning.....and I will admit my first thought was a drippy nose.  There were three....all places where this maple tree had been recently trimmed.  It couldn't be water...it had to be drippy sap.

This little stubby one was interesting....I loved them all.

I did a little research and learned this is pretty common in the spring with the cold nights. Sap can even run and freeze from a hole made by a woodpecker.  One site called them sapsicles and a sure sign of spring!  I'll take any sign of spring.

I loved the article I read called "Maple Syrup Icicles, An Unexpected Surprise." 

After icicles formed on her newly trimmed trees Emma sampled them and discovered they were sweet....just like a popsicle. She learned that it's legend that this is how Native Americans might have discovered maple syrup....by sampling these icicles in the spring.  

Emma had an ah ha moment: "discovering things accidentally....and by doing and by experimenting is often the best way to learn new things." Now she's tapping her trees every spring for maple syrup.  This is her photo.

Here's to discovering things by accident!