Sugar shacks in Covid-19 times.

Location: Saint-Esprit, Quebec
One thing I've missed this spring is the annual trip with friends to the sugar shack. Since my family is not from here, it is with friends and a bunch of kids that I enjoy one of these Quebec traditions that I simply adore. And I look at the families around me, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, children, grandchildren, babies, the recently introduced chums and blondes, a little embarrassed to help themselves twice... and I feel a little at home. Is it the noise level, the perfect cacophony, the joyful mess around the sharing of dishes that arrive one by one on the table or the Sunday walk that follows? Every year, the sugar shacks give us the opportunity to experience the simple sharing of a meal with family, friends, but also with others. For fans like me, you have to admit that it's really sad to have to skip this beautiful day where we eat like four, where we're close to exploding but always happy to come back with sticky fingers on the wheel.
This year, I went as a photojournalist: we fear the surplus production that will not be sold by the consumption in restaurants, we fear for the survival of the company, we fear for the whole industry.
This cursed virus will not prevent the sap from flowing and the syrup has never tasted better, we were told... I bought 3 canes of syrup and a bag of criss-cross ears there. More than ever, let's consume our maple syrup!