There is a small town called Barnes tucked behind the city
of Hayward in northwestern Wisconsin. My friend’s brother Chris owns a log
cabin on the lake. The cabin is decorated with a rustic theme and is comforting
in all senses. There’s a stone fireplace for the winter months and some lounge
chairs on the wraparound porch for the summer months. Chris’s wife Debbie is
always cooking something that smells amazing and tastes delicious, whether it
is cookies or corned beef. There are two friendly basset hounds to keep you
company, along with a little dachshund. At night the stars are incredibly
visible, for lack of steel mills and factories in the area.
The house is filled with the sounds of oldies music or the
news lightly playing in the background. If the radio and television is off
there is such a peaceful quiet that permeates in the room that you can hear the
sound of squirrels sneaking up the porch to get to the bird feeder, birds
chirping, or in the winter the sound of heavy snow falling from the tall pine
trees.
On one wintery Friday afternoon I was waiting patiently to
hear from my friend Marilyn on whether or not we were going to make a trip up
to Barnes, Wisconsin. The plan was to take her son’s car up so that her brother
Chris could help trade it in for a newer model but it all depended on whether
or not they would be able to get a loan. As I drove through Munster, anxious
about if we were going I got a message from Marilyn on my phone and it read:
Road Trip! About two hours later our bags were in the trunk, Nakita, the German
Sheppard mix was in the back seat, and we were ready to go.
The road trip from Munster, Indiana to Barnes, Wisconsin is
a long eight hours. Marilyn and I talked for the majority of the car ride. When
we reached the oasis before the state line I took the driver’s seat and it
started to snow a little bit. By the time we reached Tomah I couldn’t stand the
intensity of the snow and the exhaust fumes flung at me while we were on the
highway. We pulled over at a gas station and I went back to the passenger seat
for the remainder of the ride. Our conversations were both meaningful and
goofy. We made up stories from the names of Wisconsin towns, such as Jim Falls,
Pigeon Falls, Eau Claire, and Rice Lake. We couldn’t find a radio station that
wasn’t Country or Talk.
Finally at three a.m. we arrived in Barnes and were greeted
by the two loveable basset hounds Cartman and Leinie and Polo the little
dachshund dog and a very drowsy Chris. We crashed in our beds in the basement
and then before I knew it, it was the morning and Marilyn and Chris were
getting ready to take the car up to the Duluth car dealership.
I stayed back by myself at the cabin to watch the dogs. I
absorbed the peace of the quiet secluded cabin and ended up being alone all day
and night because Marilyn and Chris ended up at the casino in Duluth. I watched
episodes of One Tree Hill, took the dogs for walks, and watched the snow fall
from the porch. All four dogs accompanied me in bed when night came. Despite the
wonderfulness of the cabin a gloomy dreadful feeling penetrated through my
heart. The next day we were supposed to go back to Indiana and I didn’t want to
go home.
The next morning I woke up at ten thirty and knew something
was off because we were supposed to leave early and it would take us at least
an hour or two to get going. Marilyn came into the room and let me know that
she called off work on Monday and that we were going to stay an extra day.
Debbie was gone on a business trip so Marilyn made some pancakes and sausage
for us.
We spent the morning eating the delicious breakfast and
watching the fire that Chris made crackle while listening to the oldies
station. Marilyn and I walked down to Bony Lake with the basset hounds and
Nakita and walked across the frozen lake. After that we got into the car and
headed to Duluth, Minnesota so I could say that I’ve been to Minnesota. It
turned out to be much more than that. The snow was coming down just as much as
it was the night we drove up. It was a pain to drive in but it was so
beautiful. We only made a couple of stops in Duluth, one at a grocery store and
another at a craft store. I took a lot of pictures of the snow covered houses
and downtown Duluth. The town is filled with beautiful old buildings, big hills,
and friendly people. If I didn’t love Wisconsin so much I would probably want
to move to Minnesota.
We stopped to get a bite to eat at a small restaurant once
we were back in Wisconsin and then headed back to the cabin. Chris and Debbie
were staying out that night so Marilyn and I ate our dinner and pretended like
it was our house. I wrote stories on my laptop and she watched some TV. It was
the perfect evening.
The next day we left around noon. I was so indescribably sad
to go home. Being at Bony Lake, even for just two days once again changed my
outlook on life. Time stood still, and suddenly I wasn’t worried about shopping
malls, the city, my problems with friends and memories of past traumatic
experiences. It’s secluded and isolated, yet, somehow, it seems like life is
supposed to be as simple as life is up there.
