’m the sort of person who has trouble keeping track of her keys. We laugh about it being a family genetic fault of some kind, because so many of our clan share the same condition.
Rather than genetics, I believe there is a nurture versus nature cause. I grew up on a farm in a sparsely populated area of Southwestern Saskatchewan south of the Cypress Hills. We lived about five miles from the nearest village.
On the farm you always knew where your keys were — in the ignition of your vehicle. The house was never locked, so there was no need for a house key and the best place to hang the keys to the vehicle and the post office box was right there on the dash.
After adhering to that practice from age 12 (yes, we were behind the wheel that early) until we fledged from the nest at 18 or so, the concept of having a place to hang the keys had not taken root.
Sadly, fast forward 45 years or so, and the security rural folks used to take for granted has disappeared. Even in the sparsely-populated Southwest, vigilance has replaced nonchalance when it comes to security of property.
Property owners in the Northwest should be especially watchful. It is an almost daily occurrence to receive a report of yet another vehicle stolen, driven to a remote location and burned. Dorothy Mills in her Baljennie News column says the vehicles are often stripped of marketable parts before being set on fire.
And the vehicles aren’t just being stolen from rural areas. There have been several reports of vehicles taken from North Battleford and Battleford ending up on neighbouring First Nations or what is often described by RCMP as “the Cando area.”
And the participants in this extreme sport aren’t passive. In a recent incident a man attempted to retrieve his truck after it was stolen from his farmyard. He tracked it to a grid road and a neighbour helping him actually located the truck. But those driving the stolen vehicle rammed the neighbour’s vehicle and made their escape.
Police are asking people to be vigilant and to report any suspicious vehicles or other activity. They also recommend not leaving keys or valuables in vehicles. Storing keys anywhere near a vehicle, or even farm equipment, is also discouraged. It seems these thieves can be resourceful.
For those of us with memories of more idyllic times, it is sad to witness this loss of innocence in our rural areas.
