A NORTHERN MYSTERY

I will set up the scenario - 6 of us piled into the truck and I drove to the Christmas Party on Basswood Lake - there were 16 of us and we had a great time - enough food to feed a small village - I was the designated driver so I only had a caesar when I got there and that was it. We were supposed to leave early as Joy and Arnold were leaving for Windsor early the next day (weather permitting - but that is another blog) John and Linda are not late night people and we were just going with the flow - I noticed the time - 10:30 - so I gave Rejean the signal - he started the car - with a remote car starter - thanks again Stacey and Andrew - nice gift - and we were off. To get back from Basswood Lake to 129 we took Basswood Lake Road - a dirt road with the woods on either side - not many houses and very little traffic. OK now I have 5 slightly tipsey people in the truck and we come across two cars stopped - one in a drive way and the other on the road - we figured it was just two cars meeting and they knew each other but as we were driving past, a woman started waving so we immediately stopped. We realized the two cars were stopped at Mrs H. drive way - an older woman from Germany who is by herself. We rolled down the window and she said that there was a car in her drive and she couldn't get in her laneway up to her house - 1.2 ks up the laneway. We got out and investigated the parked car - no one was in it but there were candles on the dash and lots of used matches - a sheepskin in the back seat and an oil heater. We figured someone lived in the car but where were they? We couldn't move the car and began wondering what was going on. Mrs H is all by herself and we won't leave her there. We looked around and noticed footprints going up and coming down her laneway. It was decided that Mrs. H would go up to her house with a few of us to check out her house in case someone had broken in - Joy and Arnold went with her as the reast of us weren't really dressed for wandering through the woods at 11:30pm, full moon or not. We stayed in the car - we started imagining different reasons why this car was there - maybe there was a body in the trunk - maybe we were being watched from the woods by the culprits - maybe they had robbed the place but their car had stalled - we watch too much television. John started making funny little noises and thumping his feet in the car - I told him to knock it off. Then I got the idea to take pictures of the scene for my blog so I got my camera out and was getting out of the truck when John - who had slowly gotten out of the truck - jumped out at me from the back of the truck - well I screamed - the bastard had scared the sh-t of out me. Paybacks are a bitch John. Then we heard a cell phone ring - you think we could find it in Joy's purse? We were scrambling to answer it but we finally got it. Joy was calling from the house that no one had broken in but there were lots of footprints around the house - they called the police from the house then came back to the road to wait for them. Mrs H's good friends Ron and Darlene were called at the party and they joined us. Ron blows the snow from her laneway and keeps an eye on her place when she is gone. They stayed with her until the police came - we left. So the early evening we had planned on was not to be - we got home at 1:30 in the morning!! Not too often I do that. Linda called me this morning that the car belonged to a local woman who had had too much to drink and had pulled over into Mrs H's laneway and walked to the house for help - finding no one home she left the car in the laneway and walked up the road to a lodge but no one was home either - now this would be a few km walk in the snow and cold with only the moon to light her way - she must have been freezing - but she finally found someone and they drove her home. The police called her and she had to arrange for a tow truck to remove the car. Mrs. H stayed at her home that night once she found out it was a local and not someone out to rob her. I have learned to always be prepared for the unexpected up here - you have to have the essentials like a working flashlite in your car and always have the appropriate clothes with you. I didn't have a hat and I had skimpy leather gloves - Linda didn't even have boots on!!
Then we woke up to a ton of new snow - I didn't make it to the dump today - we shovelled and blew snow all day - I put some Christmas music on and it was perfect - walking in a winter wonderland. I hear it is raining in Windsor - I'll bring some of the white stuff with me when I come.
Well I have to get my exercises done today - as if I haven't had enough with the snow. But I have to keep up my routine.
See Ya By

ps - Mrs H was very thankful that Canadian people stopped to help her - she said that would never have happened in Germany but I think it would. People help other people no matter where you live.