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Down Memory Lane
By Florence Vining Thomen, East Canaan
If you recall, I have been acquainted with a gentleman and his wife from Canton Center—just through his letters. He writes of his memories and they are very interesting. May I elucidate?
In 1934, he was in high school. It was maple syrup-making time, but his mother had to leave to be with her ailing mother in another Connecticut town. So young Mr. B. (I'll call him) was left alone to fend for himself. It was school vacation week. He cut some elderberry spiles and burned out the soft pith with a red-hot wire. Then he tapped half a dozen old maples along with several on his neighbor’s property.
Then (listen to this) he fired up the kitchen stove and proceeded to boil sap! He soon had a problem. First the kitchen, then the front hall and stairway began to shed their wallpaper. First it sagged; then whole strips fell from ceiling to floor. Well, too late to do anything about it—the damage was done—so young Mr. B. just continued boiling. He finally had a couple of gallons of syrup.
Then mother came home. He said at first she was quite annoyed, but then she said that since the paper was about all off , they might as well paper the kitchen and hallway. The whole episode was later known as "the new wallpaper removal system"!
As he related this memory to me, he said: "If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade." How true!
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