Working in the woods can be most dangerous, but then at times most boring. For a person of my type of personality boring is a dangerous situation.  You are always looking for something to brighten up the days. My brother and I was cutting fir that had been hit by the spruce budworm. They did not weigh very much and we were not making a lot of money.  Well, one never really made a lot of money working in the woods if you were cutting for someone else. But anyway, we were cutting next to route 16 over near the Forestry station. One day we got to watch a big bull moose play with pulp trucks.

   He was a big feller and just hated big trucks.  He would be eating grasses next to the road until he heard a truck coming.  He would raise his massive trophy antlers and just stare in the direction from where the truck was coming.  You could see him just waiting for the right moment and then he would dash across the road right in front of the truck.  Brakes would squeal and horns would blast but the moose would just get to the other side and eat grass over there. He would casually eat grass until he heard another truck.  This went on for almost all day. Finally, the moose got bored and slowly ambled into the woods. I guess he was just having fun and had enough. But having fun once in a while is common for being in the woods with mother nature.

   As time went by, I got bored and began looking for something to break up the monotony of cutting and hauling the stems to the yard.  Even though, I had disturbed twelve hornet’s nest I was still looking for something that sort of created excitement for the week. You see, I could disturb hornet’s nest and not get stung. This started when I was a youngster living on the farm.  One day I needed something to do and I threw a rock at a nest amongst the raspberries. My mother, being part Mic Mac, was not very happy with me and decided to teach me a lesson. I got a lot of on demand lessons. The raspberries and fruit trees needed the hornets and I had just created a problem for them.  She instructed me with threats of bodily harm if I did not remove that rock. It was sitting right next to the nest. Well a bee sting was minor compared to what I had experienced with mom’s threats. Now, the other kids were quite excited with the thoughts of my getting stung, so they just had to watch. I was the designated game boy for the moment.  I apologized to the bees and slowly reached in and picked the rock up. I was quite careful and removed the rock. All of a sudden, the kids behind me started hollering and running. They were getting stung instead. This happened quite often in my life journey. I thought it was quite cool, but others complained if I disturbed a nest. But back to the wood cutting. The week was getting quite boring.

   Until, one day a border patrol agent just happened to stop at our yard.  It was quite convenient for him because we were right next to route 16. As he drove in, I was just about ready to go back into the woods for another hitch. But I needed something different to do. It was such a nice day and I was absolutely bored.  So, I took off running. I left the skidder there and began to run back into the woods. Well now, the agent jumped out of his vehicle and came running after me. Luckily due to the fact I had been cutting wood for years, I was a bit better toned in the body then he was.  It took only one glance to see this young man needed more exercise. I quickly out distanced him and had to slow down so as not to get too far ahead. Finally, I stopped at the top of a rise and sat on a stump and waited for him to catch up. With quite a bit of authority in his voice, he asked me for my green card.   With a nice country style, I chuckled a bit and stated, “I don’t have a green card”. I paused a bit to add a bit to the situation. “I was born in Maine and have lived here the most of my life”. With a look of being absolutely annoyed, he asked me “what in heck did you run for then?” He did not like my answer. “I just wanted to see if you would chase me”.  He then informed he that he just came up from Texas and if you saw someone running you automatically chased them. Well, young fella, “Welcome to Maine”.

  I wish to pause here and make a comment about these fellas.  They have a job to do and it requires quick judgements. They have all the sympathy that I have left. They are caught in a hornet’s nest and thanks to politicians will indeed get stung. It is not an easy task dealing with parents wanting a better life for their children. My hats are off to you guys.  I salute you fellas.

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