Quintessential Minnesota

These things are emblematic of “Minnesota” to me:

Stands of white-trunked birch trees
The haunting calls of loons on the lakes
The whine of mosquitos in my ears
The raised welts on my skin from mosquito and other bug bites
The humidity
The sound of wavelets lapping on the dock
The sustained low rumble of thunder, like God’s stomach growling
The play of clouds across spacious skies
Rusty cars (even though there are far fewer rusty carts now compared to when I was growing up there)