"A Home Within the Wilderness"

 Remind me--if I'm ever homeless in the cold seasons--to make my way to the wilderness on the westernmost edges of Raccoon Creek State Park, where many pleasant cabins sit empty and unlocked for months.  I especially liked the porch on this one, where I made myself at home for a while. 

 In one bedroom, I relaxed on the mattressless box springs of an old camp bed and thought, "This is livable."  Someone left a cheap rosary dangling by the window.  I'm not Catholic, and I don't understand rosaries, but it seemed like a good place for one.  I could almost grasp the repetitive appeal of slowly feeling my way along the rows of beads.  

 I set up camp in the rosary room for a little while.  It was my wilderness home for a short time.  I honestly think it would be possible to locate a remote cabin and move in for the winter--provided you could feed yourself from the forest.  Raccoon Creek has many very simple, far flung cabins for group camping.  Heat the place with a space heater during the day; the electric breakers are all within reach.  And at night, when there are no rangers or hikers around, light a wood fire in the fireplace.  

 Of course, you wouldn't want a wood fire during the day because someone would follow their nose to you.  

 There are few things I love more than snooping through empty buildings.  I chanced across three little gaggles of cabins, and I think all of them must be used during the summer.  The mess hall was all swept and arranged, and the kitchen was spotless.  I do recall coming across some old, abandoned cabins in another area of the park...last spring?  Do people really still camp like this?  

When I was about 15, there was a single guy in his 20s who lived in a duplex in the alley behind our house.  In the summer, this guy rode his bike for about half an hour every evening for exercise.  Once I noticed him leaving, and on a fluke, I tried his front door...only to discover that it was unlocked.  I snooped around inside his house for about ten minutes.  I didn't steal or vandalize anything, and I didn't open any drawers or cabinets.  I just liked the thrill of exploring, the risk of getting caught.  (And this guy was a dweeb.  He would have called the cops...)