by OldmanFCSA on Thu May 19, 2016 8:11 am
Things have changed for the worse over the years.
I had a remote cabin in Northern Wisconsin while living in the Southwest side of Chicago. We only got up to the cabin about every 6 weeks as it was a very long drive for a weekend trip, but the most memorable trips were in the Winter.
The cabin was small, only heated by a wood stove, had a hand pump for water from a hand pounded well, had a dry toilet system under one corner of cabin, and had an enclosed area for wood storage.
The cabin was never locked. We posted a sign inside that stated " You're welcome to use, Please leave as you found it." It worked !!! We left a notebook on the table for visitors to leave memories for others to share. It was fun reading. On one trip, we got called back home sooner than expected and I forgot a shotgun under the bed. Remembered when more than halfway home, and said 'Oh well, we'll see what happens." Situation was such that we did not get back up for 3 months. Got there, gun case under bed was gone, read some of the notes in the book, one related to a package in the rafters, found the package that was well hidden, it was my shotgun case with my shotgun and more notes.
He, I later found out who he was, found the shotgun after deciding to stay at my cabin for the night as it was too far for him to get back home before dark. He found the shotgun while cleaning the cabin. He cleaned and oiled it, liked the feel of it compared to his and decided to use it the next day grouse hunting. He stated he had great luck using it and had a good meal and stayed another night eating berries he picked around the cabin for breakfast. Anyway, he thanked me for the use of the cabin, cleaned it again, cleaned and oiled the shotgun and stored it in the gun case, and stuck it into the rafters for better storage option cammo'ed with other misc junk wood. He left several boxes of 12 gage ammo in the bookcase .
We met many years later after the cabin was destroyed. We both were sick as to what had happened. Someone had used a chainsaw to open the wall of the cabin to better steal the propane refrigerator I had installed in the cabin. The kitchen cabinet doors were all ripped off and all dishes not stolen were broken and on floor. Propane kitchen stove had door broken as they must have stood on it to access the shelves above it. The walnut Queen bed set was gone. All firewood was gone. Front door with frame was removed from cabin. Wood stove was gone. Hand water pump was gone. Lots of personal nik-naks were gone. And the rest was smashed including the very large picture window in an extended bay window setup was totally smashed including frame works. The cabin was not accessible by vehicle other than ATV. All tracks around cabin lead in a direction to a new cabin down the road and tracks around it. Sheriff said he could not address it as most ATV's had that type of tread.
Later that year, and totally by accident, we were invited to visit the new neighbor's place by the new neighbor's wife. We went, discovered our front door in use, discovered our kitchen wood stove, discovered our kitchen dishes which had a very distinct pattern we've never found since, discovered the propane refrigerator, discovered lots of personal nik-naks some with my name or initials on them, and discovered our beautiful walnut framed queen bed in their master bedroom. All the time the neighbors wife was telling how her husband had built this beautiful cabin for her while she continued to work in Pennsylvania as a nurse. She was surprised at all the stuff he had acquired for their cabin. I asked to use their phone as they had a landline - I called for a sheriff or deputy to come to this address. While waiting for the deputy to come the husband came home. He was very nervous about us being there but we acted as if nothing was wrong until the sheriff deputy arrived, the same one luckily that had responded to my original call to my cabin. After showing the deputy all the things that were stolen from our cabin and being ordered out of the house by the owner, the deputy arrested the husband. We took the wife down to our cabin so she could see what had happened to our beautiful cabin so she could have her's. She cried for hours afterward. He ended up in jail for years due to being related to other robberies, they were divorced soon. She invited us to stay whenever we visited the area, but we never did. We asked for some of our personal items and the bedroom set, minus the mattresses, back which she freely gave.
Thus ended that beautiful cabin story for us - we sold that property (143 acres) and bought a farm (345 acres) about 23 miles away. That farm belongs to our children now. That house contains a concrete storage room, my previous reloading room man cave, with reinforced concrete ceiling, and with a very strong steel framed rock faced lockable door. Large lock dial installed thru door frame does not unlock door, won't tell anyone the trick to open it, but is entertaining to show spinning the dial several directions prior to opening the door. There is a concrete tube hidden escape tunnel exiting the perimeter of the house should the need arise. Kids want to someday build a bunker underground with emergency living quarters attached to this tunnel. Son wants to rebuild the farm house on original foundation after he retires from USAF. I won't be here so hope he succeeds with his plan. I loved it there, as did the previous owner, and his dad did too before him.
