Chapter 7

As I was leaving the area, following my visit with Sven, I noticed a sign that indicated that one of the nearby towns was having a lumberjack celebration. I figured that might be something interesting to do, so I headed in that direction.

When I arrived at the outskirts of town, I learned that the main street had been cordoned off to accommodate the vendor's booths. I parked my vehicle on one of the side streets and headed for the center of town.

The first booth that I came to sold homemade creampuffs. This was a special treat that my mother had made and it was one of my favorites. I bought one and headed up the street. It was not as good as mom's, but it still brought back many fond memories. Mom would fill them with either whipped cream or pudding. She would ask me which one I wanted. I could never decide. They were both equally as good.

The festival contained many of the normal booths that you would expect to see. There were booths for jewelry, photography, leather goods, and homemade pies. The one that caught my eye was the wood carving area.

A muscular man, evidently a lumberjack, stood on the back of a flatbed truck. On the street around the truck were placed chainsaw carvings made from tree trunks. The carvings were very good and they carried a decent price.

The lumberjack had a man seated on a chair, which he was using as a model. He used a variety of different chainsaws to make a carving of the man's head. At various points, he would tell the crowd about the type of log he was working with or the type of chainsaw that he would use to make a special cut.

I was very impressed by his skill, knowledge, and pleasant manner. The one thing that I could not take my eyes off was his arms. He had the most incredible arms that I had ever seen. He was not a tall man. He had a rather slim waist, but his shoulders and arms were massive. I suspected it was from the hours he would hold the chainsaw out in front of him.

His deltoids, trapezius, biceps, and triceps were nicely displayed because of the muscle shirt he was wearing. Even my friend Troy paled in comparison to this man. After all my exercising and workouts, I realized that I would never come close to what this man had achieved. I stayed there for a long time. I learned much about the qualities of different woods and how to carve with a chainsaw.

For a brief time, on my way home, I forgot about my Nymph. I had been allowed to witness an incredible human body at work. I had to admit that I was somewhat jealous. In another life, I would have loved to be a lumberjack and have been able to develop arms like that.

For the next month, I went out into nature at every opportunity that came my way. I went biking, canoeing, boating, and sailing. I kept my eyes out for some wild creature that I could help. I found nothing. When I was out on a lake or walking in the woods, I found myself looking to see if I could spot one of the elusive woodland beings. Once again, I found nothing.

Once I even thought about faking distress while on a lake, in the hope that I might be rescued by a Nymph. After thinking about it further, I realized that she could understand my thoughts and knew my attempt would be fruitless.

One weekend, Troy called me up and asked if I wanted to attempt to canoe a river that was close to his parent's cabin. It seemed like something fun to do, so I agreed to go up with him.

The river ran between two lakes. It flowed under several bridges; one of which was very close to his parent's cabin. We traveled down to the lake from which the river flowed, in order to study our route a little more. We noticed a person that we thought looked like a local, standing by a small store, so we stopped to talk with her.

"Do you know if anyone has canoed this river before?" I asked.

"My brother-in-law Jeb did, but we didn't see him for two days," she replied.

I thanked her and discussed the matter with Troy. "Maybe we should start halfway to your parent's cabin. That looks like a trip of about four miles as the crow flies."

We arranged for Troy's dad to drop us off at that bridge. We planned on portaging the canoe back to his parent's cabin, from our exit point, when we were done. Climbing down the hill to the river was a bit of a challenge, but once we had the canoe in the water, we found the traveling to be very smooth.

It was a beautiful day. The temperature was warm and the sky was blue and without a cloud. For a short period, we found the going to be very easy. The river ran through a small ravine. Trees and bushes blocked our view of the outside world. For all we knew, we could have been in the wilderness. The water was crystal clear. Whenever we would come across a deep pool, we would see trout swimming in the depths. We also noticed an abundance of freshwater clams in the sandy bottom of the river. From our first impression, this trip was going to be a delight.

The river wound its way back and forth. We soon realized that it would take us much longer than we expected. Then we came to our first deadfall. No big deal, I figured. We climbed out of the canoe, lifted it over the tree, and then climbed back in. Once again we were off and paddling. After about four hundred yards of incredible beauty, we went around a bend and encountered another fallen tree. Once again we had to climb out of the canoe and lift it over the tree.

That became the pattern for the rest of our trip. Every time we thought we were free and clear, we would find another tree that had fallen across our path. One of the trees that we came across was covered with huge wolf spiders. I thought Troy was going to have a fit. The man freaked out at the sight of the monster sized spiders.

The whole trip ended up taking us almost six hours. When we arrived near our exit point, the GPS informed us that the bridge was very near. We could not see any evidence of a bridge. I started to get worried that we had taken the wrong fork, when Troy looked around a little bend and announced that the bridge was up ahead. I was very glad to have finally arrived at the end of that adventure.

Troy apologized for asking me to join him. I replied that I had enjoyed the challenge. We had both experienced a good workout. We had encountered some beautiful country. We had travelled where few, if any men had gone. It was a shame that those darn trees had caused so many interruptions.

To make it up to me, Troy took me out to a local sports bar. My choice of food was a steak and shrimp meal. The food was very good and the music was also very enjoyable. All in all, I figured it had been a very good day.

When I arrived home that evening, I noticed that Valerie was sitting by a small fire in the backyard. I had no pressing plans, so I went back to see her.

"Do you mind if I sit and enjoy the fire with you?" I asked

"I would love that," she replied.

I told her about my recent adventure. She laughed and said she couldn't understand how I could enjoy an experience interrupted by all those fallen trees. She informed me that she had been called in to work that day. She said that the money was good, but she really needed to have her weekends off. As was the case with most people, she was afraid to say no because of the terrible job market in our area.

I studied her face in the light of the fire. The night was somewhat chilly, so she was wearing sweatpants and a sweater. The fire reflected softly off her face and left it with a pleasant glow. Several times I caught her looking at me. I found myself missing the companionship of a woman. Here, in front of me was a wonderful person.

"How would you like to go on a day trip down the river with me, in my boat tomorrow?" I asked.

I could see a broad smile makes its way across her face. "I would love it!" she replied.

"I would like to leave about ten. Would that work for you?" I asked.

"I'll be ready," Valerie replied, with eagerness in her voice.

We sat by the fire for a while longer. I think we talked more that night than all the other times combined. Finally, I said I had to make sure that the boat batteries were charged. I also mentioned that I had a few other things to check on, in preparation for our trip.

Valerie and I stood at the same time. We looked at each other for a short time, and then I felt my head moving toward hers. Our lips touched, and I found myself desiring this woman very much. It was Valerie that finally broke off the kiss and headed for her door. She turned and gave me a big smile. It looked like I would have to repress my feelings until another time.

The next morning, while I was hooking up the boat trailer, Valerie snuck up behind me and softly kissed the back of my neck. It was a very pleasant surprise. I thanked her and told her it would be just a few more minutes before we were ready to leave. I placed the cooler and food in the boat and we were ready to go.

We had a very pleasant chat as we headed for the river. The sky was clear and I noticed only a slight wind. As I drove, I glanced over at Valerie. She had her hair tied up in back, exposing a very delicate and beautiful neck. Covering her body was a very attractive sundress. On her feet she wore a pair of sandals. All in all, I thought she looked mighty fine.