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)

Rusty truck