A needed dose of Wildness

We have returned from the second annual BWCA trip. Here is what is left:
1. a really stinky car, with a pile of stinky clothes and packs in it.
2. mosquito bites as follows: 10 on left shoulder, 5 on right shoulder, 3 on right elbow, and one on my rear end(?).
3. a very oily, melted half block of sharp Cheddar, a few handfuls of trail mix (how could this be left over? we ate this constantly), 1 soggy pita, a bag full of yet-again uneaten oatmeal, and a bag of packed-out, leave no trace, garbage.
4. a tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, etc. that desperately need to be aired out.
5. some good pictures... see below.
6. great memories of our second annual trek into the wilderness with fellow adventurers the H-Hs. Here are some highlights and lowlights (in order of my preference and/or their hilarity):
a) "IN MY PANTS!, THERE IS AN ANIMAL IN MY PANTS!" (some dancing around, followed by the rapid exit of an orange and brown mole from A's shorts.)
b) POURING RAIN on Gerund Lake- so hard the rain bouncing off the water of the lake was white and looked like snow that we were paddling through.
c) The Germans on the portage offering to send us a picture of ourselves in the rain @ yaaaahooooooo.com.
d) A's "dumping" of the "canoe" along the portage.
e) The wind on Vera Lake, eliciting another, "nice fucking vacation" from husband. (Once again this year, not funny at the time.)
f) Sexual innuedos that went with Missionary, Skota, Spoon, Dix, and Neglige Lakes.
g) Husband and B demonstrating the efficiency of "ears out" rain gear hoods. looking good...
h) Naming the H-H's canoe, "The Big Red Beav." and B wrinkling her nose at it.
i) Having husband ask sleepily, during windy night, "are there trees around our tent?" Just about a million 50 footers. "Nope. Nothing to worry about- go back to sleep."
j) Me accidentally slipping into the lake in front of the crew, as I was so carefully just trying to 'step in'.
k) Using many of the things on the trip we received as wedding gifts, favorites being our new spacious tent and extremely fast dragonfly stove excellent for making yummy beans and rice.
l) Having husband quiz us all about "weather conditions in which you have pooped" (this must have been in honor of friend, slummy.)

So, along with these memorable moments, I am again filled up with the wildness of northern Minnesota. Although it may seem crazy to spend 4 days paddling more than 30 miles and portaging to more than 15 lakes with a canoe on my shoulders, it is the moments where you understand what you are made of and you test yourself against the unpredictability of nature.
I am reminded that I have come to hear loons learning to fly, see otters swimming in the early morning, and to smell the trees, air, water, and to remember what it feels like to be no match to mosquitoes on a portage. And most of all, to share all of this with people important to me.