Patty Loew:
Another Wisconsin farmer turned author is a regular contributor here on "In Wisconsin." This week, Michael Perry's humorous essay takes you on a treasure hunt of sorts in Eau Claire County.

Michael Perry:
How you doing? I want to take you out to the back 40 and show you one of my favorite spots. This spot is like a lot of those spots my brothers and sisters and I used to seek out when we were little kids growing up on the farm. We're almost there. And we were attracted to them for one specific reason. Treasure.

Michael Perry:
There it is. It's your classic, all-American back 40 junk pile. There was a time when most back 40s had a spot like this. I know we're supposed to be horrified at the idea of junk in nature. But can't lie to you. I like these spots. That's an old cream separator or pump of some sort, or a grinder. The Carlson brothers, the two old Norwegian bachelors that had the farm up the road from us when we were kids had some wonderful junk piles. One time they threw out one of their TVs, which was fascinating to us, because we didn't have a TV so we would sit out in the woods and look at their TV on the junk pile. Didn't get very good reception. Yeah. This is an old radio set. Is that Larry Meiller? Digging through that stuff, you felt like a junior archeologist. Ironically enough, this is an antique toy garbage truck. What a gorgeous toy it was in its day, though. It's got an actual, movable dumper that you can dump the trash in. You got a sense of great adventure as you dug through these piles and tried to recreate imagined history from the objects that you found there. This would be an oil filter. This is one of those things that probably you shouldn't throw in your ravine. But I think it's been pretty much neutralized by now. Still holds water. Anybody remember pull tabs? Some sort of housing. TV dinner tray. Must have been a bachelor farmer here at some point. No idea what that might have been. Feeder or live trap or broken glass? Always an important, critical part of the treasure hunt. Old garden hose. Under these ferns you can see that wheel there. It's an old grain scale. Could have probably sold that to somebody in Bayfield. It’s upside down, but it’s actually an old grain scale. This is cool. Anybody remember the Red Owl store? “Welcome to our Rough Neck Antique Roadshow!” You know what? I bet you that's a trucker shoe because it's all wore off right where you would run that clutch or accelerator pedal. Right down here, there's a hole here that runs back about four feet. I'm not going to stick my arm in it. I think the fact that the old stock tank is holding back a little dirt pretty much cancels out the effect of the leaky oil filters and cadmium batteries. Good theory anyway.

Patty Loew:
On March 25 Michael Perry will have another video essay for "In Wisconsin," as he uncovers his most prized possession from that back 40 junk pile.