I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to Scott Osgood of Cherryfield, David Simmons of Gouldsboro, David Georgia of Old Town and Alan Gillis of Orrington – all with the Maine Warden Service – for rescuing me on Nov. 23.

I was in the woods [of Cherryfield] in the afternoon when I spotted two moose. I followed them into brush so thick I got disoriented. I wandered into some swampy ground and my feet got soaked.

As darkness fell, I prepared to spend the night in the woods by gathering some evergreen boughs for a nest. When the temperature dropped and my efforts to build a fire failed, I realized I was in trouble and could suffer frostbite or worse if I stayed outdoors. The wind was howling and so were the coyotes, not a comforting sound.

Loath as I was to trouble anyone, I used my cell phone to call my friend, Raymond Strout, and asked him to drive down the Willey District Road and blow his horn, in the hope I would be able to hear it and get my bearings.

When this effort failed, he called Scott and he and the others came looking for me. They fired three shots in the air and asked me to fire three shots in return so they could pinpoint me with their GPS device.

It wasn’t long before they found me, cold and scared. No one has ever looked so good to me. My favorite expression, “It’s great to be alive!,” has a whole new meaning. I appreciate their efforts, especially on a holiday eve, and salute them as heroes.

Jerry Blackburn

Harrington