Page 100 - "Mississippi in the 1st Person" - Michael James Stone (Demo/Free)

I had read all the accounts of going down the Mississippi River that I could find and not once
did one of those turkeys mention fallen trees.

I bet someone was laughing somewhere.

Especially when I pulled out my hatchet.

Looking a lot like a lodge pole pine that grew branches everywhere and almost every direction,
I started off by playing “Lizzie Borden” on the tree by taking off the branches. Liming was

pretty common for a wood cutter but usually we did with a chain saw. A few wacks though and
branches flying I was happy the tree seemed dry or my ax sharp. It was about an half hour and
I had cleared the upper branches off so what I had left was a log for the upper tree. Chopping

had been therapeutic, maybe Lizzie had a point.

Eyeballing out about where to cut the top off this tree, I sure did not want to spend all day
hacking at the tree with a hatchet and this wasn’t s skinny sprig, but nether was it a mighty

oak. It would take time though.