AUTUMN HAS ALWAYS been my favorite season here in Minnesota. But spring holds an appeal almost equally as strong.
We are in the throes of spring with trees now leafed out, dormant grass morphed to life and the black landscape of fields sprouting corn and soybeans, as if a farmer took a green pen and ruler and inked lines across the land.

Minnesota State Highway 68 south of Morgan stretches out behind me in this snapshot taken of the passenger side mirror. Green breaks this monotonous stretch of roadway.
On a day trip to Belview and back to Faribault on Saturday, I delighted in the greenery of rural Minnesota. I find visual joy in viewing a landscape transformed. The intensity of green almost hurts your eyes. It’s that vivid.
I treasure these late spring weeks, for I know this emerald gem is mine for only a sacred short time.
TELL ME ABOUT the season in your part of the country or world. What do you see in the landscape that surrounds you?
© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling





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That first photo
Beautiful
And those tidy corn rows!
Full on green out here in the Finger Lakes Region.
Technically Spring, but has the look of early Summer
Right now the Locust trees are in blossom, and they emit a delicious honey scent into the air that’s quite lovely
Oh, spring, joyous spring. I know you love this season of new growth.
It is such a beautiful time when the crops are starting to pop up and the landscape is slowly changing from the tans and browns to lovely lush greens. I am a huge fan of spring and it seems that it might have finally arrived in the midwest. The rain has been constant from the sounds of it but that helps the green to grow, right?
You are right about the constant rain. But it was needed.
Cynthia and I just returned from a trip to TX where the unusual Spring rains created extensive flooding. We arrived home to lush green yard, trees and vegetable gardens. I concur with Fall #1, Spring #2. Guess where Winter falls? 🙂
I’ve seen images of the flooding in Texas. Catastrophic. I hope you left before the worst of it.
I would say that winter ranks as #4 on your list. That’s where it falls on mine.
For us, it is the greening of the sedge.
West of us is DNR land. It is a preserve for carex, a native sedge that grows in marshland. Years ago, before farmers tiled the land, most of Steele, Freeborn and Mower county was dominated by sedge marshes.
The grass turns a gray-brown in the fall as the blades die off. In the spring, green shoots spring up until the sedge is a sea of green grass.
I just learned something new today from you about the counties to my south, including yours. I am always appreciative of farmers who choose to leave some natural marshland rather than tile it.
I’m always amazed at the rapidity of growth in the warm spring sunshine, one minute (or so it seems) the trees and bushes are bare and barren and you can see everything within view, then those tiny buds of green begin to appear, seemingly overnight, and then ever so suddenly, it’s BAM and you can’t see in your neighbor’s window anymore. lol
I agree of your assessment at how the green seems to erupt almost overnight.
I see the awakening of the earth everywhere after all this rain we’ve had. Little seedlings have appeared in one of the deck boxes where I planted a “seed bomb” my granddaughter made and gave me for Valentine’s Day. I have no idea what kind of flowers were in the seed bomb, so will have fun seeing these seedlings become flowers. In the mornings, when we walk our dogs, the birds are loud and many, chirping from every tree in the neighborhood. This morning, my favorite thing were the water droplets clinging to the intense orange petals of our poppies beside the driveway.
Beautiful. I love how you notice details like the water droplets on poppies.
Great pictures. They make we want to take a trip to my parents house. I see a yard that needs to be mowed. I actually miss mowing lawns but my allergies can’t handle it anymore.
On my list of tasks for today: Mow the lawn.
I remember the rich black soil of Minnesota farmland. Here in VA, it is red clay which you see most commonly. The fields are vibrant green too right now. Once the heat comes, things will gradually brown out.
There’s no soil quite like that of southwestern Minnesota. You are remembering it precisely as it is.
Very very green here in Rochester, I’m also enjoying the more cooler weather this spring. If I remember right, Green is your favorite color 🙂
Your memory is correct. I do love green.
I enjoy watching the the spring season unfold bit by bit until all of a sudden overnight it explodes into shades of green. Spring season signals a hopeful time with new beginnings.
I like that, “a hopeful time with new beginnings.” There’s always hope, right?
Hope is the thing with feathers that penches in the soul, and sings the tune–without the words, and never stops at all.— Emily Dickinson
Yes one of your favorite quotes.
Thanks to you!