AS I VIEW THE LANDSCAPE layered in snow and consider the unseasonably cold temp of 12 degrees, I reflect that only 11 days ago, southern Minnesota looked and felt much different. Like the season of autumn rather than winter.
Today I take you back to October 18, to photos from a Sunday drive that started in Faribault and continued east through Kenyon, Zumbrota, Mazeppa, Oronoco and Pine Island, then back home.
As farm-raised kids, Randy and I enjoy these rural drives that transport us back in time and also give us a much-needed break from the realities of COVID-19, of politics, of life stressors. I never tire of seeing cornfields and farm sites, especially during the harvest.
There’s something about immersing myself in the countryside, about simply being in a rural landscape, that comforts me. That soothes and calms. I need that now more than ever.
We all have, I think, those places which offer us such a respite. Perhaps yours is a room in your house, a place in nature, maybe even within the pages of a book. I’ve been reading a lot lately and highly-recommend Susan Meissner’s A Fall of Marigolds.
Fall. It’s my favorite season, cut too short this year by an early significant snowfall. I’m not happy about it and I doubt many Minnesotans are. We often boast about our hardiness. Yet, we grow weary, too, of our long, cold winters. Most of us, anyway.
Yet, we choose to live here. This is home. And always will be for me. No matter the season.
© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
I think you lowered my blood pressure at least 10 points with your serene landscapes of southern MN. The photo of the cattle in the pasture was almost a duplicate of one of the field and pasture land areas where our family raised black angus. Relaxing, good memories. Thank you.
Oh, Bernadette, thank you. That I could lower your blood pressure via my photos is reason to give thanks. I understand the stress and if I can ease that in some small way, then I feel grateful.
Love harvest time and seeing farmers in the fields.
It’s a wonderful time, for sure.
Fall harvest and countryside photos always bring joy!
They do. We just returned from a short drive into the country to get apples at an area orchard.