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To the Rescue

The weekend before last, I came up to the Door for a bit of camping along with my sister-in-law, Elinor. It was a short visit: one day of travel, one day of fun, and one day to return home.

The first evening after the tents were set, we walked The Ridges Sanctuary. We walked the entire length of the boardwalk, down to Baileys Harbor town beach. We went wading in the cool water and watched the huge dragonflies whiz past. On the walk back, we were startled by a deer eating some plants in the creek and laughed at ourselves as much as we did the deer’s equally startled reaction. We saw orchids, identified a myriad of plants, and pointed out constellations as the first stars appeared. It was just a wonderful time – until we got back to the car.

Uh-oh. My pocket was empty. No keys? NO KEYS!

We hurriedly retraced our steps in the low-light of dusk. Finally it was too dark to keep looking. Night had fallen and we couldn’t see a thing. So, we went back to the car to think what we could do. Elinor was kind and remained very calm. She called the Door County Sheriff’s office to see if they could open the car. They don’t offer that service, but were happy to take a message just in case someone turned it in. Elinor then left a message at The Ridges and I called my husband asking for insurance information just as my phone died. We called insurance and were told no locksmith in the area was willing to drive out to our location at that time of night. He also let me know that it would cost several hundred dollars to have a key made. My response was to cry.

A staff member at the Ridges, Steve Leonard, drove up to turn off the sprinklers. He saw us and asked how our day was. “Terrible!” I said and explained what had happened. He was genuinely concerned, but we promised we had someone on the way, so he drove home. A few hours later, he came back and said he would walk the boardwalk, just in case he found them.

I called Honda Services and, after a couple more hours, she was able to contact a wonderful older gentleman to pop the lock open so we could at least get our things. SUCCESS! Then, the anti-theft horn went off. He was so kind he said just to press the button on the key fob and it would stop. We explained that the key wasn’t locked in the car, it was lost somewhere in the forest. He kind of sighed and said, “Well it will turn off eventually.” He trailed off. Meanwhile, Elinor started frantically pushing every button and trying every which way to get the horn to turn off. And just like that, it did. I was confused and Elinor, smiling, came out saying, “You had an extra key?!”

What? I didn’t have an extra key to the car. It was a bonafide miracle! WOOT!

Steve wasn’t back from looking in the woods and we didn’t want anything to happen to him, so we waited until we saw his flashlight shine out from the woods. As we met him we laughed that we found a key, but stayed because we wanted to make sure he hadn’t been eaten by a bear!

The next day, I quietly badgered Jane at The Ridges asking if a key had been turned in that morning. Every time the answer was no. (I only asked twice, but felt awful about it.) Late in the afternoon, Elinor received a call from the Sheriff’s police office. They said they had my key! Elinor relayed that the person calling had giggled that the wiener-dog key fob was the cutest thing ever.

Thanks and blessings to Steve, Jane, the lovely man who got the car open, the Door County Sheriff’s police, and to the anonymous person who found the key and turned it in.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Miracles do happen…they just happen more often in Door County where people are kind, honest and honorable.

 

Erin K. Nolan
DeKalb, Ill.

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