<\/p>\n
Accessible primarily by canoe, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in northeast Minnesota . . . extends 150 miles along the U.S.-Canada border, covering approximately 1,098,000 acres . . .<\/em> <\/p>\n I want to go<\/p>\n to the Boundary Waters, canoe its one thousand lakes,<\/p>\n hundreds of miles<\/p>\n <\/p>\n of rivers. So many places I\u2019ve never been. I\u2019d like to see sunset<\/p>\n reflected in Tuscarora<\/p>\n Lake, when it\u2019s so still you cannot tell the difference<\/p>\n <\/p>\n between sky on fire<\/p>\n and water on fire. Rosanne and I could paddle together<\/p>\n in our red canoe<\/p>\n <\/p>\n to the very middle of the lake. Her hair would outshine sunset.<\/p>\n One loon would call<\/p>\n to another loon with its otherworldly wail from across<\/p>\n <\/p>\n wide water.<\/p>\n That\u2019s all I want to hear. But Rosanne, who has been to the Boundary<\/p>\n Waters and back,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n tells me gently, firmly, matter-of-factly\u2014in the voice<\/p>\n I love more<\/p>\n than any other woman\u2019s voice\u2014that no, I will never go as far<\/p>\n <\/p>\n as Tuscarora<\/p>\n Lake. My body with its nerve pain, unable to walk anymore<\/p>\n without its rollator,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n would not be able to do even one long portage.<\/p>\n She\u2019s right, of course.<\/p>\n And even if I were to canoe that cold, aquifer-fed water<\/p>\n <\/p>\n so clear I can see<\/p>\n twenty feet down to the rocky bottom, always another<\/p>\n waterway is waiting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Night calls me with its unanswerable cry. Death\u2019s loon<\/p>\n cries out<\/p>\n to me to come, come. Canoe to him alone across<\/p>\n <\/p>\n dark, starlit water<\/p>\n where the moon now rises. Keep him company upon those other<\/p>\n boundaryless waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Donald Platt Accessible primarily by canoe, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in northeast Minnesota . . . extends 150 miles along the U.S.-Canada border, covering approximately 1,098,000 acres . . . \u2014 Explore Minnesota I want to go to the Boundary Waters, canoe its one thousand lakes, hundreds of miles of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8413,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8412","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2014 Explore Minnesota<\/em><\/p>\n