Bob the Woodsman is a good man who shouldn't be blamed for putting on hold my plan to become a lumber baron.

That's because Gary the Woodsman explained why Bob why hasn't started cutting my trees yet.

I am trying to have part of my 20-acre parcel thinned by a small-time logger.

I found a candidate, aka Bob the Woodsman, who said he would do it.

We even have a written agreement.

We plan to split the proceeds.

That was in May.

However, Bob the Woodsman has not entered the forest, saying it is too wet.

It's rained only a few times in August in Franklin County, and the road to my cabin is as dry at the thoroughfare the Joads took to leave the Dustbowl in the '30s.

So Your Scribe has been wondering why Bob hasn't started.

Well, my activity has fluctuated between "knitting my brow" and "scowling in frustration."

I chatted with Gary this weekend, who also works in the woods.

He noted that my land is at the bottom of a long hill, and moisture tends to gather there.

Also, it was unusually rainy this spring.

Gary added that the mills have stopped taking hardwood for the next two weeks, which implied that no one is buying oak and maple anyway.

The discussion with the cheerful Gary reminded me of how hard it is to be a woodsman.

The ability to make money is hemmed in on all sides.

The woods can be wet.

The equipment can break or get bogged down.

The pulp mills can stop buying.

The logger can sustain injury on any given day.

Equipment such as trucks and skidders are hugely expensive.

Big operations are employing massive and efficient tools, and running the small woodsmen out of business.

Logging and fishing are two of the most hazardous occupations in the country, a fact not lost on actuaries in the worker-compensation field.

And Maine has (or had) both in abundance.

Big international shipping operations have just about put Maine fishermen out of business.

Now well-financed lumber operations are starting to drive out the small woodsmen.

In light of these conditions, probably the best thing for me to do right now is stop complaining.

Bob the Woodsman says he'll get going in early September.

To which I say . . . go to it, at any pace that works.

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