STORIES/EDITORIAL - LOGGING AND SUGARING
Some years back, during one of the cold crisp days of late winter, I was logging a 30 acre lot in Greenfield, NH. It was a good day for logging and it was also sugarin’ season.
The land owner and I were pretty good friends any how, but this day was special.
Kerry invited me over to his house to have homemade waffles and eggs before the workday started.. With a delicious breakfast under our belts he headed down to the barn to hitch up the team and I went to the landing to get the skidder warmed up. I made a hitch or two and from the corner of my eye saw the team of oxen coming down the main skid road with the sap barrel on the scoot. Steam coming from the nostrils of the grand old beasts reminded me of the way things used to be when I was a small boy.
I shut down the detroit diesel of the skidder so as not to spook the oxen. Well, they didn’t seem to mind at all, as if to say, we all have work to do and could do it together. Kerry said,come on with us for a turn !
With a clik of his cheek Kerry told the boys to head to the sidelines where the sap buckets hung. The oxen seemed to know , turning into the windrow of snow on the roadside. And with power, grace and and sense of the mission pulled us along the way to the sugarbush. It was like having your best friend working with you where no directions or orders were necessary. They just did their very best pulling the ever increasing weight of the scoot. The peace and quiet effort was exhilarating.
It was one of the great pleasures of my life to be a part of that partnership of man and beast. We tend to forget our purpose sometimes as the world spins faster and faster. Newer technology only gets us more money, not the pure pleasure of just being alive.
Maybe we could all think about it some.
Best,
Bill
