written By George Hanstein

[From the 2025 Fall Magazine]

Most of this summer there has been a crew logging 90 acres behind my land. I could hear their equipment in the distance, and I often saw the trucks loaded with logs, coming down my road. A couple of weeks ago, I went to where they were cutting and asked if I could buy a truck load of logs for firewood. The guys that I talked to were very nice and the owner and I struck a deal. I stayed and watched some of their operations.

Make no mistake... Loggers work very hard, and it is a
dangerous business.

It made me think of another logger that I met many years ago.

One winter morning, several years back, I stopped for coffee at a local store on my way to work. It was quite early, still dark out and very, very cold. I was thinking how nice it would be to turn around, go home, stoke the fire, and read a book. As usual, I was wearing a sports jacket and tie. As I was walking into the store a guy wearing well-worn work boots, jeans and a flannel shirt was walking out. He was on his way to work in the woods logging. He wished me good morning and smiled and said, "It's probably nice to work inside, eh?"

I laughed, wished him a good day, and got my coffee.

That happened about 18 years ago. That guy (I have never seen him again) changed my perspective. Whenever I didn't feel like going to work, I would think of that logger, going to work in the woods on a freezing cold winter day to support his family.

I almost never missed work or called in sick. If I didn't feel like working, I would just think of that guy and imagine what he was probably doing that day, and I would just go.

I owe that guy a huge debt of gratitude for helping me appreciate what I have.

I still think of him, and I hope he is doing well and having a good life.

He sure earned it.