First it was Bob the Reluctant Woodsman who wanted to make some money thinning my forest, but he has not as much severed a thin branch.

Recently, Gary the Energetic Logger said he would do the job. But he has done nothing in a month, so I assume he is not going to get the work done either.

Gary says it's a small job. He makes money on clearcuts, as he did at the end of our road.

I am small potatoes (if you can stand the mixed metaphor). The idea of felling only selected trees is not one that is appealing - or evidently profitable.

My third option: Nick the Woodchuck Hunter.

I met Nick this spring, as he was walking by the property with a rifle slung over his shoulder. I usually do not engage armed, unfamiliar men in conversation but in the woods I take on more of a swashbuckling persona.

I hailed him. Then we talked about 'chuck hunting, which he was engaged in at the moment. We also opined on the fields to the west that had been resold over the winter.

A huge tree had fallen across the driveway of Your Scribe, and I asked if he knew anyone who could cut it up.

He said he'd do it. And he did. I said I would pay him but I did not reach him on the phone to get his address. Lame excuse perhaps, yet I will pay him when I see him. (In my defense, he said he didn't want to be paid for such a small task.)

Nick appears to be a man of action, at least by comparison. I will call him this week, and perhaps we can discuss the project when I am at the cabin next weekend. I need dead trees down, and some live ones removed to let more light into the forest.

(An aside: Your Scribe had a great weekend on identifying stories for this blog. I even took photos, which I can't upload until Monday. Here are some upcoming yarns: a really cheap riverfront cabin for sale; the fast growth of the bittersweet on my cabin, which is giving it the lived-in look; and Imelda's Yarnshop, which sells many craft-type items. That might be a strange topic for Cabin Country, but I have high regard for anyone who can convert a factory that made wooden squash rackets into a three-floor yarn shop that serves as a resource for the women in the area).

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