The American Spectator

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p> MIXED BLESSINGS br> Re: John Corry's My Kind of Cadillac : /p>

The small-town quaintness John Corry detailed in his article was a primary reason my wife and I bought 100 acres of land about 10 miles south of Cadillac. In some of the highest elevations in the lower peninsula, our property is a gorgeous mix of cedar swamp, maple and beech hardwoods and open, rolling prairies. The expansive vistas to the north and west are most glorious in the fall, generally the first week of October, when the hardwoods are ablaze in their autumn splendor. Deer, turkey, grouse, ducks, coyote and other wildlife inhabit the land in abundance. We have even seen bear on a couple of occasions.

Unfortunately, we have experienced a reduction of our rural tranquillity lately, as an adjacent 20 acres to our south was bought ($2500 per acre!) and populated by the most uncivil neighbors one could hope to have. Apparently recently moneyed due to a lawsuit victory, they planted a pre-fab trailer not 50 yards from our south fenceline, and insist on using our property for their recreational activities. (They told a neighbor they were going to trespass for hunting and horseback riding, "cause ain't nobody using it now, besides, we only have 20 acres.") I have had the DNR twice to the property to investigate trespassing and theft in the past year alone.

We are about to give up what we considered to be our future retirement home because, regardless of the small-town charm the paper exudes, these people have the same respect for property rights that were on display during the L.A. riots after the Rodney King beating trials. Having almost bought an adjacent ten acres in order to erect a home, we now only use the property for our annual whitetail hunts and spring morel forays. Other neighbors are truly wonderful, but they can help us only so much. One hates to invest hard-earned money in a structure that will almost certainly have more break-ins than my home in Troy. We'll give it a few more years but will keep our eyes on other opportunities should necessity force us to re-locate.

I suppose that we would have expected such un-neighborly rudeness in a more urban locale. It's truly unfortunate that one must encounter the same selfish, urban behavior in such beautiful country.

p>By the way, we love the Frosty Cup. As my daughter and I happily sing while pulling into their lot on Lake Cadillac: "Frosty Cup, Frosty Cup, eat so much you have to throw it up!" I think we ate so much there we paid for their latest expansion. Enjoy it while you can, br> -- Dave Weaver /p> p>

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