So Be It

Sometime after midnight Marlin and I awakened to blinding flashes of lightning and violent thunderbolts booming in rapid and continuous sequence.  Winds were whipping around our tent with tempestuous rage. Marlin was out of the tent in a flash making long strides to the boats to make sure they were secure.  If we lost our boats in a storm it would be devastating.  We had no radio, no form of communication here in this remote area.  We hadn't seen another soul since we arrived.  There would be no way to get back to civilization.  I was frightened.  Lightning was striking all around us and before Marlin could return to the tent, rain was coming down in torrents.  Our tent pole swayed back and forth and our shelter was in danger of collapsing.  We both held on to the pole to keep it from caving in on us.  We were helpless to do anything about the water pouring in underneath our tent and soaking everything around us.  Stuart called from across the way and asked if we were o.k.  Marlin replied "Sure, we've been through this before."  Certainly he had but at that moment I wouldn't have given two cents for another camping trip.  A half hour later the storm has subsided, but the soggy sleeping bags and wet night clothes didn't offer the most engaging sleeping arrangement.  

Wednesday dawned beautifully with the sun rising over the water and terrain east of us.  Except for drenched sleeping bags and clothes, the storm had come and gone like a phantom in the night. The boats were safe although there was water to be bailed out.  A rope was removed from the boat and temporarily converted to a clothesline.  Sleeping bags and water-soaked garments were hung to dry while the fellows fished.  Jan read and I visited my tree stump with pen and pad and absorbed the warm sun's rays.

Once during the week another canoeist came by to ask if we had first aid supplies. He was in charge of a group of boy scouts camped a couple of miles away on Eden Island. One of the boys had cut his knee and needed medical attention.  We furnished bandages and Bactine.  It was all we had.  Later that afternoon two canoeists paddled their way south hugging the west shore.  The only human movement we saw during our entire stay were those three people.

We were imbued with a deep sense of God's primordial world and our privilege to possess it for the precious time we were there.  Were we welcome intruders invading the silence, absorbing the quiet beauty, claiming the land of the loon and dwelling with the forest creatures? God's timelessness and our oneness with the universe filled our senses and gave us a sense of belonging. 

Stuart and Janet were wonderful, compatible camping companions.  Stuart, a law professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, was knowledgeable not only in academic affairs but in wilderness travel and all its challenges.  He and Marlin had enjoyed other canoe trips in the past.  The Smiths and the Gullicksons had socialized together and were good friends.  On occasion Stuart had come at Marlin's invitation to serve as Lay Speaker in several of the churches Marlin had served.  Janet, President of the Badger State Girls, was equally erudite and charming.  She shared a love of nature and camping with Stuart and their girls, Beth, Ann and Lynn.  Jan and Stu had hosted Marlin and I for a weekend in their lovely Madison home prior to our marriage.  Bruce and Mary Evelyn LeGrande were invited as well and it was a time of good fun and fellowship as we became acquainted. Instinctively I was drawn to these dear friends of Marlin's and Murlen's.  We were all Methodists, nature enthusiasts, and loved travelling. Jan was an admirable cook, we had fun exchanging recipes.  She had taken her Badger State Girls on many camping trips and I had been a camp counsellor for Methodist youth...however no portaging! Thus we all had much in common. I was delighted to claim them as my new friends.

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This man had charmed his way into my heart.  He was basically honest and good.  I enjoyed his sense of humor, the loving notes and cartoons.  I admired his strength, his love and pride for his family, his love of nature and the north country, his love for God, his voice and his touch.  I felt overwhelmed and now it was my turn for a response.  And at that moment I knew that I really loved him very much.

"I'm sorry but I don't have a speech prepared, didn't know I was going to need one!  I do love you.  I don't know when I started loving you, maybe it was Camelot's 'if ever I should leave you phone call’ last December or maybe it was that first kiss after the Abbey or maybe it has just been a gradual realization, but I do know I have much respect for your faith, your career, your honesty, your capacity for understanding people, there is so much to love.  But I am not prepared to answer...I guess I think it is all too soon...for you and perhaps for me as well."

His humor saved the moment.