Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Sampling chili along Central October 18, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:26 AM
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HOW DO YOU LIKE your chili? With a shot of whiskey? Beer? An extra dash of cayenne?

All three were among ingredients incorporated into some of the chili served Saturday during the 2011 “Main Street” Fall Festival Chili Cook-Off along Central Avenue in historic downtown Faribault.

I was there, tagging behind my husband Randy and sister Lanae as they raced ahead of me, determined to taste all 33 chilies in an hour. (I had my camera, thus the lagging.) We didn’t quite accomplish our goal; some vendors ran out of chili and we missed a few.

But we all ate enough to fill our stomachs and then vote for our favorites.

Randy and Lanae apparently know a good chili when they taste one as the chili they selected—John Stepan’s at Geek Central—won the cook-off contest with 13 percent of the vote. John wouldn’t divulge his secret recipe to us, but he did mention something about soaking the chunky, green pepper-laced beef in an oriental sauce. And that was about all he would reveal.

I photographed only one chili and it happened to be the winner, John Stepan's chili at Geek Central.

I nearly voted for John’s chili, but instead cast my ballot for Glenn’s Towing. The guys manning the booth claimed motor oil and ground-up rubber as ingredients.

My sister and I took that as a challenge to finagle the truth out of them. They offered us 25 cents off a gallon of gas if we could guess three of the unusual ingredients. I suggested vinegar. Wrong. Lanae suggested brown sugar. Right.

But we failed to guess the other two, three actually, as it turns out: whiskey, cream cheese and cocoa. No discounted gas for us.

The catchy display of vintage toys at the Glenn's Towing booth.

A wagon-load of pumpkins were for sale in front of the Nook & Cranny, where Carl Mortenson's chili was served.

Theirs wasn’t the only chili including alcohol. At the Nook & Cranny, Carl Mortenson served his Guinness-infused chili.

And across the street at Flair Furniture, another chili taster thought beer might go well with the cowboy and cowgirl chilies served by competing father-in-law/daughter-in-law David and Mara Thiele.

The Thieles offering their western style chili at Flair Furniture.

At Hoffman Law Office, you could add your level of heat toppings to your chili. The felony level: Hell-fire Habanera

In fact, if you ever imbibe in this chili smorgasbord, I’d recommend buying a bottle of water to cleanse your palate or quell the tongue-burning fiery chilies—and we’re not talking temperature here.

Just for the record, plenty of fire-free and alcohol-free chilies were served.

An especially festive table at the Crafty Maven.

The Paradise Center for the Arts served chili and promoted its upcoming MASH production.

At the Signature Bar & Grill, General George Custer (aka Dave Custer) served his chili.

There really was a costume contest, albeit for kids, not adults. Although we missed the actual costume parade down Central Avenue earlier in the morning, I caught this Raggedy Ann and Andy and their dad later.

All in all, if you enjoy chili on a fall day, Faribault’s Fall Festival Chili Cook-Off would be the event for you. This year it cost a reasonable $2 to purchase a plastic spoon and then meander—or race—from booth to booth for two hours trying chili. We didn’t get there until about noon, so had only an hour to sample. Give yourself more time, especially if you want to visit with other fest-goers, check out the businesses and really take in the atmosphere.

FYI: Proceeds from the Chili Cook-Off benefit the Faribault Main Street program designed “to create an attractive destination in which businesses prosper, the community benefits and residents and visitors enjoy a quality downtown experience.” To learn more, click here.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Walking into yesteryear at the Oak Center General Store October 17, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:24 AM
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IF NOT FOR THE MINNESOTA Highway 60 detour onto U.S. Highway 63 north of Zumbro Falls, we never would have found Oak Center.

And had we not seen the writing on the window, “Stop on in and explore the store,” and the OPEN sign, we might have driven right by the Oak Center General Store.

That message on the front window that urged us inside.

The general store sits nearly on top of Highway 63, right, in Oak Center.

From the exterior, it’s that type of structure and setting—a visual hodgepodge which makes you question whether the place truly is open.

My husband and I wondered that when we pulled off the highway and parked next to the old building. Then we stepped inside and it was like we had walked into a general store of yesteryear, right down to the vintage push-button cash register.

The vintage cash register sits atop a counter labeled with strongly-worded messages.

For the longest time we meandered around the shelves, taking it all in—the worn wood-plank floor, the tin ceiling, the old wooden refrigerators, the vintage bottled pop machine, the bulk spices…

An eclectic mix of merchandise is crammed into the store.

Old-style refrigerators, still in use in the store.

Brooms for sale tucked into a basket on the floor.

Hacky sacks and handmade woolen mittens on display near a front window.

You can purchase pop in bottles from a vintage pop machine.

I couldn’t get enough of this historic general store, which hearkens back to 1913 in this unincorporated locale. I’m not sure exactly what I said to my husband when we were there, all alone, perusing the place. I think we were both too in awe to even talk much.

That’s a good thing, because, even though no one was minding the shop, the baby monitor was switched on, we later learned, and our conversation could be overheard.

A message on the cash register advises customers to leave their payment on the counter with a note if no one is around.

Rows of bulk spices line the shelves behind the counter.

Steven Schwen

About the time I stepped behind the counter to photograph the cash register, Strider Hammer strode into the room and, when I began asking questions, he fetched owner Steven Schwen.

Introducing himself as a “voluntary peasant,” Steven and I shook hands and he apologized for the damp hand. He’d been washing dishes.

Strider clamped my hand in a friendly vise grip handshake.

And so, properly introduced, Randy and I learned a thing or ten about the Oak Center General Store, which Steven purchased 35 years ago after the business closed and the building sat vacant for five years.

Today the Oak Center General Store is “dedicated to rebuilding a better world from the earth up.”

Although I didn’t ask for details about his life views, Steven’s comments and signage inside the store speak to an outspoken, yet gentle, man deeply-rooted in his independent, self-sufficient, non-materialistic, environmental, anti-war beliefs.

“Produce, don’t consume,” he says.

With that philosophy, Steven runs this general store which sells organic foods, kitchenware, candles, incense, local fair trade products, herbs and a lengthy list of other miscellaneous items.

He also operates Earthen Path Organic Farm, a 14-acre fruit, vegetable and herb farm based directly behind the general store, and works with son Joe and daughter-in-law Rebecca of Heartbeet Farm. They sell their products at the Rochester Farmers’ Market and to co-ops in Northfield and the metro area. The Community Supported Agriculture farm, Steven says, supports his family and the store. He also builds furniture and cabinets during the winter months.

Later, after touring the other facet of Oak Center General Store—the music scene—Strider would take us out back to see the farm.

But first things first. Steven disappeared and Strider led us through a dark middle room gathering place cozied with worn couches and a wood burning kitchen stove, past the corner media center (aka computer) to a back stairway nearly as steep as a ladder.

Those steps led us to the old Grange Hall, a former meeting place for farmers and now an entertainment center for local, national and international bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz and similar musical acts.

Earlier, Steven defined the 30-year run of October – April Folk Forum weekend concerts as “non-commercial entertainment connecting people to the land, music and each other.”

The former Grange Hall stage where musicians perform during the Folk Forums.

Rows of seating in the old Grange Hall.

I know nothing really about the music genres that entertain at Oak Center. But I recognized Monroe Crossing, the bluegrass group which will present a 2 p.m. Christmas Matinee on Sunday, December 4.

Other upcoming performers include Bingham and Thorne, Marty Marrone & Tangled Roots, Robby Vee, Galactic Cowboy Orchestra and many more slated in from now through December 23. (Click here to get the full line-up of musicians.)

Strider invited us to return for a concert with a recommended $5 – $15, but “pay what you’re able,” ticket price and what I expect would be a laid-back atmosphere.

He’s a personable guy, who, when I asked, said he’s a friend and extended family to Steven. You get the sense that anyone who steps inside Oak Center General Store is family.

Even the animals out back are the friendly sort; they nuzzle up to the fence when Strider beckons.

Strider Hammer calls animals to the fence at Earthen Path Organic Farm.

The friendly animals on the "Old McDonald" style farm. Steven's son Joe and his wife Rebecca farm with draft horses. Steven once used those horses to farm, but now, because he can no longer lift the harnesses, relies on tractors.

The mishmash of buildings behind the general store.

Back at the side door that leads to the former Grange Hall and back room gathering place, Strider climbed the few stairs onto the weathered deck and bid us farewell with a single and seemingly fitting word for the vibe of the Oak Center General Store:

“Peace,” he said and walked away.

A flower blooms next to the general store.

A side view of the store from Highway 63.

FYI: The store is open from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Saturday and some Sundays. In addition to music, Oak Center General Store hosts theater, round table discussions and workshops (ie., holistic medicine, organic gardening, batik) at its Folk Forums.

For more information about the Oak Center General Store, click here.

To learn about  Earthen Path Organic Farm, click here.

For info about  Heartbeet Farm, click here.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Worshipping at a country church October 16, 2011

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Before worship services on a Sunday morning at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown.

“THERE’S ONE MORE THING to do,” said the Rev. Merle Lebahn, vacancy pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown, before dismissing his congregation. “Give ‘em heaven!”

And so concluded one of the most dynamic worship services I’ve attended in a long time. Pastor Lebahn didn’t deliver a fire-and-brimstone sermon in this country church. But he shared a message memorable both in content and method of presentation.

Pastor Lebahn gets front and center when he gives the children's lesson, just as he does during the sermon.

He’s not a preach-from-the-pulpit style of preacher, but rather an up-close, center-of-the aisle, close-to-his-flock kind of clergyman. His voice rises to a near shout when he wants to emphasize a point and then drops to a quiet, gentle cadence to drive home the message.

And that message last Sunday reflected on the gospel lesson from Luke 10 and the story of the Good Samaritan. Remember that bible story about the beaten man lying at the side of the road, passed by many until, finally, a Samaritan stopped to help?

Rev. Lebahn told us we were the beaten ones lying in the ditch until we received Christ.

He talked, too, about crossroads in our lives and about the people God brings into those crossroads.

I could go on and on about that sermon. But I think you get the main point delivered by this 78-year-old clergyman who looks, and acts, considerably younger than a near octogenarian. Consider his foot stomping and arm flailing and constant motion. I got tired just watching from my end-pew position in this sanctuary that holds 26 six-person pews on the lower level and a few more in the balcony.

A view of the balcony in this 1938 rural church.

It’s the type of snug church where you won’t get away with napping during the sermon, like you could anyway under Pastor Lebahn’s watch.

There’s something about worshipping in a small country church like this that you can’t replicate in a modern, large-scale church, even if you incorporate stained glass windows or other elements from an historic building.

I felt a sense of connection, of closeness, on Sunday as the congregation joined in prayer—for those celebrating anniversaries and birthdays and for those in need—and sang old favorite hymns like “Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways.”

Looking from the entry into the sanctuary during worship services.

In the back of the church are pews for families with little ones.

Farm boy, 6-year-old Jonathan, after services in the basement.

You can’t help but feel close when you’re tucked into tightly-jammed pews in a place where a comfortable pair of jeans is as common as a suit and tie and where farm kids like 6-year-old Jonathan bring a mini toy John Deere haybinder to church to keep his little hands busy.

Because just outside the church doors lie fields of corn and alfalfa and soybeans…

To the right of the cornerstone, in the distance, you can see corn fields.

Looking heavenward...

The Last Supper art on the lower part of the altar.

In my next post about this church, I'll take you into the basement where this sign is located.

CHECK BACK FOR A POST about the harvest dinner at this country church following the worship service.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A peek at the South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour October 15, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 9:58 PM
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This building at 101 E Fifth Street in downtown Northfield includes a studio that showcased the art of Nancy Carlson, Lucky Rimpila and Meg Jensen Witt.

OK, PEOPLE, YOU have one more day to tour 23 art studios featuring 46 artists during the South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour.

The free tour, which opened today, continues Sunday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. in the Northfield, Cannon Falls and Faribault area.

Now I’m going to be honest with you here. My husband and I went on the tour last year. We loved it. But we really didn’t weave the event into this weekend’s plans what with painting a bedroom this morning and then sampling chilis at the Faribault Fall Festival today and other stuff that involved work.

But then we drove up to Northfield to look at a van for sale and, as long as we were in the vicinity of most of those open studios, we toured about a half-dozen. And let me tell you, we were in for some sweet surprises.

Here’s a sampling from those studios, which should inspire you to abandon any other plans you have for Sunday and make a day of it visiting with artists and perusing (maybe even purchasing) their work.

Meet metalsmith Tim Lloyd, surrounded by the tools of his trade. He’s a congenial guy, retired from 40 years of teaching metalsmithing at Carleton College in Northfield. He’ll explain things to you, answer your questions about what he keeps in narrow drawers in his workshop. You’ll see leaves in one drawer. He’ll tell you about the prairie dock (a native prairie plant that looks like rhubarb) and the ginkgo leaves he imprints into silver.

And then he might mention that he has a work of art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. A teapot. At the Smithsonian.

And so here are some of Tim’s teapots, not exactly like the one at the Smithsonian, but beautiful, just beautiful. He’ll even listen to you tell a story about a railroad teapot reclaimed from a junk pile on a North Dakota farm, if you have a story like that to share.

So when I saw this vessel, I thought of a Communion chalice, which it is not. But Tim has made those, too.

Because Tim didn’t seem to mind, I moved in close to his work desk and photographed these tools.

Moving along, artist Kirsten Johnson wouldn’t allow me to photograph any of her art (not all that uncommon) except this visual journal of watercolor paintings. In January, she began painting an hour a day and continued for five months. About mid-March she took lessons in watercolor. She learned this: “Water is boss.”

Down-home, earthy simplicity is how I would describe this bowl by Meg Jensen Witt, who once worked at a food co-op with someone I met several days ago. Small world. And, yes, I’ll tell you about this interesting mutual acquaintance in a few days in another post.

I still don’t know if he was telling me the truth or spinning a tall tale. But the creator of this stained glass window introduced himself as Lucky Rimpila. I mean, who has a name like Lucky? Lucky, apparently.

And then there’s Nancy Carlson (for sure her real name) who was in the same studio as Lucky and Meg. Nancy used a dropper to create mini works of art with India ink. She grouped and framed them together and here you’re seeing one snippet.

 Meet Louise. She is not an artist. But she is an original poodle (or something like that) before poodles shrunk. Louise was hanging out in potter Tom Willis’ Sunset Studio near Dundas. Tom says Louise is shy and that she needs a haircut. He is right.

Since Louise was sort of blocking the view of Tom’s pottery, above, I moved in close to photograph it for you. Then I went outside his studio and found more…

I could show you many, many more close-up photos of Tom’s pottery. Lovely, lovely art. But here’s an overview. You can go to his studio and examine it more closely on your own. Tomorrow. Remember, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Oh, and if you time it just right, you may get to see Tom and ceramic sculptor DeAnn Engvall take a dragon out of the 1800-plus degree raku kiln. Yes, that is hot. And, yes, DeAnn has gotten burned, singed her eyebrows once.  And, yes, I took this photo at a weird angle so just tip your head.

Next, the red hot dragon (see it?) is placed inside a garbage can, where it ignites newspaper. About then you can make a smart comment about a fire-breathing dragon before the lid is slapped onto the garbage can. A half hour later, a colorful dragon emerges. DeAnn will explain to you that the fire “pulls the oxygen molecules in the glaze to the surface.” And if you’re like me, you’ll think, “OK, if you say so.”

That concludes my mini-tour of several art studios. Now, have I convinced you to take in the South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour tomorrow?

For more information, click here at www.studioartour.com.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Sign junkie October 14, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:25 AM
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A note on the door at Medallion Case.

YOU MIGHT NOT APPRECIATE business signage like me. Heck, you may not even pay much attention to signs unless, of course, you are looking for a specific place. Then you would notice.

But I notice signs because I consider them to be works of art, reflections of personalities and history, trademarks of small-town life, and sources of entertainment.

I’m not talking about the mass-produced, generic signage that marks a chain store. Rather, I mean those handcrafted and/or custom signs (and notes) you’ll find on small-town Main Street or along rural roadways.

Recently, signage in Nerstrand, a village of 233 residents in eastern Rice County near Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, attracted my interest.

And because most of you aren’t going to drive to Nerstrand to see these signs, you can just view them here.

Then, once you’ve perused my discoveries, I challenge you to go out into your own communities and search for sign art.

WARNING: If you accept this assignment, you may become a sign junkie just like me.

No confusion about the meat market business located here along Main Street Nerstrand.

Additional signage on the Nerstrand Meats building highlights the products available.

Another business sign along Nerstrand's Main Street.

This sign on the corner of a Main Street business in Nerstrand directs motorists to Grace Lutheran Church.

Just so you believe me, here's Grace, under the water tower.

BONUS: I’ve tossed in two signs from rural Dennison also.

This sign at the end of the driveway at 2290 Goodhue County 49 Blvd will direct you to Potpourri Mill Log Cabin near Dennison. That's Vang Lutheran Church in the background.

Once you drive up to the log cabin, you'll see this season appropriate sign outside the front door. Inside you'll find the Harvest Thyme Craft Show, which runs weekends through October 16.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Charming Wabasha on a day in October October 13, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:12 AM
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Nothing says "small town" like a hardware store, including Hill's Hardware Hank in downtown Wabasha.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT Wabasha that keeps drawing me back to this 1830 Mississippi River town?

Small town charm? Yes.

Historic buildings? Yes.

The river and the eagles? Yes.

Now add to that the yummy, chewy, chocolate-covered caramel turtles from The Chocolate Escape, the homemade tomato basil soup at The Olde Triangle (Irish) Pub, the street side festive corn shocks/fall decorations, and the gigantic pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch under the Minnesota Highway 60 Mississippi River bridge.

Wabasha knows how to woo visitors with its irresistibly charming personality. While I delight in that put-on-its-best-face appearance, I search for the nuances that define this town’s character.

Dogs plopped on the sidewalk. A cat tucked under a stairway. Handwritten signs. Bricks, bikes and books. Tile floors. Friendly barbers. An old clock. Unattended stores. Polite motorists who stop for pedestrians. Benches that invite sitting a spell.

It’s there, all there, in Wabasha. Join me for a photographic stroll through this river town on an October afternoon.

Then, the next time you’re in Wabasha, or any town, take note of the store windows and walkways, the rooflines and the signage, the vibe of the place you are visiting. Seek out the details and enjoy.

Corn shocks, scarecrows and pumpkins add a festive flair to the downtown.

I saw two dogs and a cat hanging out, this one near Heritage Park by the bridge.

The historic skyline of Wabasha.

A storefront display of vintage fans in the window of Passe Electric.

A snapshot aimed toward the upper wall and ceiling of The Bookcliffs at Pembroke Avenue, just off the main drag.

The death of a businessman, announced in the window of his business, Gambles Hardware.

A nutcracker collection displayed in The Chocolate Escape.

More of those lovely old buildings.

An inspiring message posted inside The Bookcliffs.

A bench featuring Walter Mathau and Jack Lemmon from the movie "Grumpy Old Men," which was based on the setting of Wabasha, rests under the bridge.

The Pumpkin Patch, an autumn attraction under the bridge in Heritage Park.

My favorite pumpkin carving in the Pumpkin Patch.

Jewels on the River, a jewelry shop in the old city hall next to the bridge.

A scene under the Mississippi River bridge.

Crossing the Mississippi River bridge eastbound from Wabasha into Wisconsin.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING for something to do this weekend, consider coming to Faribault for the Fall Festival & Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, October 15, in our historic downtown. Sample and vote for chilis, served street side at businesses from11 a.m. – 1 p.m. A Kids’ Costume Parade along Central Avenue kicks off the event at 10:30 a.m. followed by pumpkin painting and treasures in the haystack for the kids. Adults will find plenty of shopping options in the downtown. Click here for more information.

You’ll also want to check out the South Central Minnesota Studio ArTour which begins Friday with previews in several studios from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. The tour of 23 art studios in the Faribault, Northfield and Cannon Falls area, featuring 46 artists, officially begins Saturday and continues on Sunday. Hours are 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Click here for more information.

© Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Happy birthday, Randy October 12, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 1:52 PM
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TODAY MY HUSBAND is celebrating his 55th birthday, which now officially makes him as old as me. Yeah, I was smart and married a younger man, albeit by only about two weeks.

I’ve been contemplating what message to write here today to him. I decided, instead, to tell you a few things about Randy.

He’s the oldest boy in a family of nine children and was born in North Dakota, where he attended a one-room country school. As the story goes, one day the students were kept inside during recess because of coyotes roaming the schoolyard. True story, he swears.

Randy moved with his family to central Minnesota when he was six or seven, or some young age like that.

It was on the family’s farm south of Buckman that Randy saved his father’s life. Yes, you read that correctly. He saved his dad’s life. My spouse seldom talks about that October 21, 1967, accident shortly after his 11th birthday.

But he was there as his dad’s hand was pulled, along with corn stalks, into the spring-loaded rollers of a corn chopper. Blades sliced off his father’s fingers. Rollers trapped his arm.

And Randy was there to disengage the power take-off. He then raced across swampland and pasture to a neighbor’s farm. To save his father’s life. (You can read the details by clicking here.)

An Allis Chalmers corn chopper like this one exhibited at the 2010 Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show, claimed my father-in-law's left hand and much of his arm in a 1967 accident. That's my husband, Randy, who saved his dad's life by running for help.

My spouse possesses a calm demeanor, meaning not much rattles him. He’s soft-spoken and funny in that quirky kind of humor way.

He does sudoku puzzles and is good at math and numbers and figuring stuff out.

His work as an automotive machinist at Parts Department, Inc., Northfield (NAPA) is always in demand. Suffice to say you better get in line. He’s that good at his job.

Randy at work in the NAPA machine shop in Northfield where he's worked since 1983.

He once owned a Harley, which was smashed in a crash, and once won a trip to the Bahamas.

Right about now, Randy’s probably eating his second or third piece of apple pie bars, his birthday treat at work. Tonight I’ll serve him his favorite cake, angel food, topped with one of his favorite fruits, raspberries.

Speaking of which, I need to bake that cake. Now.

Happy birthday and many more, Randy! (See, I used an exclamation mark, which I never use in my writing.)

I love you.

IF YOU WISH to leave a birthday message for Randy here, please do so. He reads my blog and is, indeed, one of my most vocal fans. Thank you for always supporting me in my writing, Randy.

 

On our way to church in North Morristown

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:08 AM
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ON OUR WAY TO CHURCH on Sunday morning in North Morristown, my husband and I drove through some mighty fine country.

Past…

grain bins awaiting the season’s yield

autumn’s glory edging Cannon Lake

harvested corn fields

tree line and crop line

a farmer laboring

beauty and bounty

a clutch of bins

horses dallying in a barnyard

a shed weathered by time

an old brick house on a hill

to Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown.

We savored the best of a lovely, gorgeous, stunning, beautiful, wonderful, photographic October morning that transitioned into an unbelievably warm afternoon.

Typically we don’t get this many balmy October days here in Minnesota, meaning we need to appreciate each one while secretly hoarding memories of these days for the long winter months ahead.

For now I want to remember this Sunday, this drive west of Faribault to the little country church, Trinity Lutheran, edged by an alfalfa field and across the road, acres of corn.

I want to remember the warmth of the day and of the people with whom we worshiped.

I want to remember, too, the good food and fellowship afterward in the church basement as we celebrated this congregation’s annual fall dinner and craft sale.

CHECK BACK for posts about dinner and about Trinity church.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The truth about goldfish revealed at a convenience store October 11, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:27 AM
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YOU’RE ON THE ROAD. You need to pee. You also need a beverage to quell your thirst. It’s a hot afternoon. So you pop into a convenience store.

You use the facilities, select a bottle of tart lemonade and then head for the check-out counter.

That’s when you spot this message scrawled on the whiteboard, propped between the Minnesota State Lottery and Jean Ross sunglasses displays:

The message posted recently at a southeastern Minnesota convenience store.

And then you think to yourself, “What is the meaning of this message?”

When you inquire, you learn that this is the “thought of the day,” with a new parcel of wisdom or tidbit of information posted whenever the manager is on duty.

It’s as simple as that.

As you walk out of Parkside Gas and Grocery on Main Street in Nerstrand, you think, “Well, I just learned something new.”

And then you have this fleeting thought that you should rush out and buy a goldfish, stash the fish tank in a closet and test the validity of this statement.

But then you remember just how much you dislike cleaning a fish tank.

HAS ANYONE ever tried this? Do goldfish really turn white when kept in the dark?

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Alpacas in Sogn Valley October 9, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 10:19 PM
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An alpaca outside the craft barn at Sogn Valley Alpacas & Crafts.

I DREW MY HAND across the scarves, stroking the silky, kitten-soft spun fiber of the alpacas.

Hats. Scarves. Prayer shawls. Afghans. Rugs. Clothing. Some tucked inside the small-scale barn shed that mimics the real barn a stone’s throw away. Other merchandise is draped across tables and clothes-drying racks outside, near the penned camel-hued alpaca that chose to ignore me for the most part.

Welcome to Sogn Valley Alpacas & Crafts along Goodhue County 14 Boulevard, rural Cannon Falls, a spur-of-the-moment stop on a recent drive to view the fall colors.

Jayne and R.J. Boersma's Sogn Valley Alpacas & Crafts near Cannon Falls.

Scarves and hats, close-up, and prayer shawls in the background displayed outside.

Silky soft clothing hanging inside the craft barn.

My husband and I missed the fleece demo at 1 p.m., the spinning wheel demo inside and the alpaca farm tour, unless, of course, it was self-guided.

We, in fact, missed any human contact. Not a soul was to be seen except for alpacas and chickens scratching and flapping too close for my fear-of-chickens comfort.

I checked out the merchandise, unsuccessfully tried to coax the elusive alpaca into posing prettily for a photo, side-stepped chicken poop, considered photographing pumpkins and squash splayed out on a picnic table, and then snapped one final photo of an “AGRICULTURE KEEPS AMERICA GROWING” sign before hopping into the car.

The sign supporting agriculture on the side of a shed at the alpaca farm.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling