Along U.S. Highway 14 between Sleepy Eye and Springfield on the southwestern Minnesota prairie.
THOSE WHO CATEGORIZE the southern Minnesota prairie as flat, boring and in the middle of nowhere truly have not seen.
South and west of Waseca, along U.S. Highway 14, a train cuts across the flat farm land.
Perhaps you are one of them—a traveler passing through this land defined by horizontal lines. Your patience for the endless miles of vast sky and open space expires shortly after you exit the city.
The horizontal lines of railroad tracks, utility wires and farm buildings define this scene near Janesville along U.S. Highway 14.
You cannot fathom how anyone can live here, let alone appreciate this landscape.
East of Courtland, tidy rows of bales edge a farm site.
But I challenge you, the next time you are hurrying from City A to City B, to look beyond the pavement, beyond the preconceived ideas you have about rural Minnesota and specifically of the prairie.
West of Springfield, a snow fence emphasizes the horizontal lines of the prairie.
View this landscape as an artist’s canvas. Before your eyes, you will begin to see the bold lines, the wispy strokes, the colors (or lack thereof), the composition of a scene.
The ethanol plant near Janesville on a cold December morning.
You will feel the strength of the artist’s brush in the wind.
One of my favorite barns along U.S. Highway 14, west of Sleepy Eye.
You will read poetry in the simplicity of the uncluttered landscape and in the fortitude and kindness of those who inhabit this place.
And then, perhaps, you will begin to connect to a land which possesses an infinite beauty unlike any other.
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Your multifaceted piece reminds me of David Foster Wallace and his Midwestern (Illinois) musings. Hurrah for breaking down stereotypes and injecting them with grace.
Thank you so much. The prairie is the place of my heart and I never fail to see beauty in the landscape.
You made me appreciate the flatness more! I am used to rolling hills and lots of trees and I must admit I grumble about the lack of these in Iowa—especially when trying to drive through drifting snow. But your pictures and words made me rethink my criticisms—and that is a good thing.
It’s all all about perspective. You may laugh at this. But the first few times driving in wooded Minnesota and Wisconsin, I struggled with the trees, the closed-in feeling they produced in me. Over time, I adjusted. But sometimes, when on trips through such landscapes, I am heard to say, “I need to see a field or open land.” And my husband, who grew up in central Minnesota, will laugh.
Found myself smiling at your photos and descriptions, just like I find myself smiling when I’m out on those country roads admiring the beauty in all that the landscape and nature has to say. Loved the clouds in the ethanol plant photo…looks like a water coloring! Great shots Audrey
Thanks, Jackie. A little photo editing going on in all of those photos today.
You and I are sisters of the heart in so many ways.
Readers, do check out Jackie’s fabulous blog, which is always rich in outstanding images.
Nice serene photos. I originate from New Ulm and my husband originates from Sleepy Eye; therefore this seems like homeland.
So delighted to take you back home today, Helen. I grew up on a farm near Vesta, which is half-way between Redwood Falls and Marshall. I also worked in Sleepy Eye for awhile back in 1980 as a reporter/photographer for The Sleepy Eye Herald-Dispatch. Thanks for stopping by.
Nice.
I have managed half-a dozen decent paintings of the prairie. I keep wanting to do a semi-abstract of all the patterns and lines of farm land, but I’m not good at abstracts.
Having moved here from the North Shore 15 years ago. we find fun in discovering beauty in the prairie. Not only here but even in Bowman and Slope Counties, which are in the SW corner of ND. Slope is a large county with a population of around 700. It has two towns. The county seat, Amidon, has a population of around 45. Amidon’s police force is an empty police car with a dummy in it. The court house is an old four room house. I just finished a pastel of Bowman County. The painting is 6 inched high and 20 inches long, which tells you something about Slope and Bowman Counties.
Thank you for sharing that interesting info about Slope and Bowman counties in North Dakota. That’s even more rural than the rural I know. Now you will need to show us that painting you just finished.
Beautiful – I have lived on the prairie and then moved to an area with mountains – both landscapes are unique at times as well as beautiful! Happy Monday:)
I think every landscape can be appreciated, if only we take the time to truly appreciate.
Your photos, with accompanying descriptive dialogue, truly catch the feeling of the Midwest prairie. Wandering through God’s beautiful creation is one of our passions and never fails to delight. It is a very good thing, though, that we each have our preferences or certain corners of this world would get quite crowded….LOL!
Thank you and I absolutely agree. If everyone loved the prairie, it would just be another city.
Yup. I, for one, am partial to the tree lined/covered bluffs of the Mississippi River Valley/Coulee Region and, although I totally appreciate the prairie and even “Big Sky Country”, am almost unsettled when not in some “cozy” setting!!!!!
I love your region of southeastern Minnesota. Even I, a prairie girl, become unsettled in Fargo, which is more prairie than the prairie of my youth. Sure hope that doesn’t sound too confusing.
Totally understand. On my first trip to Winnipeg I could NOT believe how flat the terrain is up there!! Ever since then I was able to understand how the Red River really floods when the water levels elevate!!! Kinda like dropping a glass of milk……….it’s everywhere!!!!!
That’s precisely what I thought when we explored Fargo for the first time during this past year. No wonder the Red can flood everywhere, as you say.