When you live in a rural area, there’s a temptation to assume that since the pace is slower and you know most of your neighbors, there is no crime. Sandpoint isn’t exactly a hotbed of criminal activity, but if you read the local paper, you know that badness occurs here just like it does everywhere else.
Because most people in this area know their neighbors, they also know where the bad element resides. The same is true in our neighborhood. A few years ago, when we found a number of our trees marked for logging on our property, we had a pretty good idea who was trying to steal them. Our lawyer did too. (Yes, the trees are still standing.)
This week, when we found some of our mail torn open and heaved out into the snow alongside the road, we again had a pretty good idea who did it. Most of our neighbors have lived here for many years and when we talked to them about the situation, they had a pretty good idea who did it too. Stealing mail is illegal, so we called the sheriff’s office.
What’s so stupid is that in both cases, the bad element basically left a trail to their house. Marking trees alongside the road up to your house is a dead giveaway. Tearing up and throwing mail out along the road up to your house is just as dumb.
The theory is that the bad element was looking to take other peoples’ presents. We bought a locking mailbox, which should solve the problem. But the thing that’s most annoying is that I think they stole my Christmas cards. (So if you see a card with my white fuzzy dog on it from someone OTHER than me, I want to know.)
The good news however is that the company reprinted the cards for me and they arrived yesterday. So this weekend, I’ll be visiting the post office one more time to mail out my cards.