In September of 2021 we were driving the ARK across the country to document our first community in Vermont.  We decided to route ourselves through Two Harbors Minnesota so we could check in on two pieces of land that have been in Monica’s family since the 1920’s.

Monica hadn’t seen the land in almost 10 years and we were both so  excited to see it that as soon as we checked into our hotel drove out of town

The property is covered in alders and the walk down the driveway towards the log cabin was full of talk about what we would build on the 40 acres. Once we got out to the cabin we  noticed someone was living on the property, there was a shed built off in the distance, and a mosquito tent set up at the end of the driveway.  

Not knowing how to deal with this we went to the county clerk and the sheriffs office the next morning  to get some advice. We left town with a deputy’s phone number and went back out to the land to hang no trespassing signs. When we got there we saw a truck with Texas plates parked in the driveway, and after a short walk we could hear a generator running.  We called the deputy and he showed up right away.

As we walked behind him up the driveway, the deputy announced himself a few times, and then a black lab came out of the woods, with its owner right behind. He introduced himself as John, and surprised all three of us when he not only knew Monica’s name, but a bit of her family history and the history of the land. Unknown to anyone in her family, he had been visiting the land since he was 7, and had become its informal caretaker  in recent years, maintaining trails dating back to the 1930’s and keeping an eye on the property as much as he could.