Sanctuary

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.