Minnesota Prairie Roots

Old Glory at the elevator in Castle Rock May 6, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:55 AM
Tags: agriculture, American flag, Castle Rock, Farmers Mill and Elevator Inc., grain elevator, Minnesota, old buildings, patriotism, rural Minnesota, travel

Farmers Mill and Elevator, Inc., Castle Rock, family-owned for 70 years by third generation.

SMALL TOWN GRAIN elevators, like barns, beckon me to photograph them, for I fear that these skyscrapers of the prairie, as some have called them, will someday vanish.

Recently, on a pass through Castle Rock, an unincorporated village located about six miles north of Northfield in Dakota County, I spotted Farmers Mill and Elevator, Inc.

The grey of the elevator complex matched the grey skies in a landscape late in welcoming spring.

Despite that seasonal indifference over which we possess no control, I noticed the prevailing spirit of rural patriotism in an American flag stretching her stars and stripes in the brisk April afternoon wind.

Grey be gone. Red, white and blue flourishes, at least atop the grain elevator in Castle Rock.

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Thrice blessed on a Sunday May 5, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:08 PM
Tags: blessings, bloggers, blogging, collectibles, friendship, life, Sunday, The Kitchens Garden, thoughts, vintage glassware

DO YOU EVER EXPERIENCE one of those days when you feel blessed, just blessed?

This Sunday would be such a day.

One of those blessings came in a shoebox, carted to church this morning by my friend Joanne. She spotted two vintage drinking glasses at her son-in-law’s mother’s garage sale yesterday and mentioned my glassware collection. The mother told Joanne to take the two glasses and give them to her friend. That would be me.

And so this morning after the 8 a.m. church service, Joanne handed me that shoebox with two outrageously cheerful glasses, unlike any others in my collection.

While I absolutely adore the vintage 70s glasses, I value even more Joanne’s thoughtfulness in giving me something she knows I will use and appreciate. It’s not my birthday, not any special day for me…

The second blessing of the morning came when 2 ½-year-old Mia, who wasn’t feeling well, arrived at my house around 9:30. Her mom, my friend Tammy, had phoned earlier wondering if I could care for Mia while her family attended the confirmation of their eldest son. I didn’t hesitate. The rite of confirmation is too important for parents to miss.

Tammy thought I was doing her a favor. But she was also doing me a favor. Years have passed since I’ve “played dolls” and read picture books to a child. And let me tell you, such child’s play is good for the soul.

Finally, my third blessing of the day came from Cecilia, one of my favorite bloggers, who writes from her “little farm on the prairie” in Illinois. I can’t even tell you how long I’ve read “The Kitchens Garden,” but I cannot imagine my day without a trip to Cecilia’s “farmy.”

She takes me back to my childhood on the southwestern Minnesota prairie, reconnecting me to my roots via her insightful, creative and splendid writing and photography. But more than C’s ability to write well are her compassion and care for both people and animals.

Rather than try to explain, just read this comment posted by Cecilia on my “Hope Unfurls” post published Saturday:

I was out collecting trees the other day and Sandy (The Matriarch) said how she always enjoys your comments, she is so worried about you out there in this infernal snow.. a winter that will not let up is not good for a woman she said, it wears on her, but you have stood up to it with grace and fortitude, not long now I hope, and you will have some flowers. Love from all of us! So proud to be your friend, Audrey. c

Thrice blessed I am this Sunday, dear readers. Thrice blessed.

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Hope unfurls May 4, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 4:08 PM
Tags: daffodils, day lilies, Minnesota, nature, photos, raspberries, spring, tulips, weather, winter

LAST WEEKEND, MY DAFFODILS bloomed, bright and brilliant in the first blush of spring.

Photographed Saturday afternoon, the seven inches of snow have mostly melted off my daffodils.

My daffodils, photographed Saturday afternoon, emerging from seven inches of disappearing snow.

Today they lie in a pathetic heap, heads bowed, even buried, in a veil of snow.

A tulip bud, bent to the snow.

Nearby, tulip buds droop, leaves splayed, vulnerable to the frigid air and the rough crystals of melting snow in this endless winter.

Determined day lilies.

In my backyard, determined day lilies soldier up through the snow.

Bendy raspberry branches in bud.

A stone’s throw away, wild raspberries defy the weather, arcing branches, buds unfurling into the promise of spring.

A raspberry bud unfurling.

Hope. I saw hope today that this longest of all winters may finally exit Minnesota.

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A photographic escape to Two Rivers, Wisconsin May 3, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:11 AM
Tags: fishing village, Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum, ice cream sundae birthplace, life, Rogers Street Fishing Village, signs, small towns, tourism, travel, Two Rivers, winter, Wisconsin

A sign inside the historic Washington Museum and Visitor Center in Two Rivers.

HAVE YOU EVER DRIVEN into a community you’ve never visited and fell totally, absolutely, head-over-heels in love with the place?

For me, that would be Two Rivers, along Lake Michigan in northeastern Wisconsin.

Nearly two years have passed since I toured this community which claims to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae. I love ice cream as much as the next person and savored my sundae at Berners’ Ice Cream Parlor, established in 1881.

Signage on the exterior of the Hamilton Wood Type Museum.

But even more so, I loved the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum across the street, a magnet for artists and former newspaper types like me who view print as art and not just a means to publish news. I wrote about the museum shortly after my family’s visit there in August 2011. Click here to read that post.

A view of Two Rivers from the historic fishing village.

Besides treats and type, Two Rivers wooed me with the Rogers Street Fishing Village. From there I photographed a dreamy, idyllic view of the town complete with a white steepled church in the background. Although I’ve never been to New England, I imagine the scene might be similar to a quaint fishing village there.

Cool signage.

And then there’s the signage in Two Rivers—those details I notice because, well, I tend to notice details. I appreciate artful signage that beckons me.

Although I didn't stop at this fish market, the exterior charmed me.

The exterior of Susie-Q Fish Market charmed me.

Today I long to return to Two Rivers 356 miles to the east. But for this moment, viewing photo memories must suffice to lift my winter weary spirits, to erase the doom and the gloom and the visual of the snow which is falling here again this morning.

I will imagine for this day that I am among the good folks of Two Rivers, in a community where optimism, faith and good news prevail.

BONUS PHOTOS:

A snippet of small town life inside the Washington House.

I was amused by the names of the docked boats.

Dutch Lady

Why would you name your boat Fishing Pox II? Is there a Fishing Pox I?

A simple fish shed sign in the fishing village.

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Unbelievable! Record snowfall on May 2 in Faribault, Minnesota May 2, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:28 AM
Tags: Faribault, life, May 2 snowstorm, Minnesota, snow, weather, winter, winter storm

Willow Street, shortly after 7 a.m. May 2. That’s my house on the right.

YOU WOULD GUESS, walking my neighborhood this morning, that this is March instead of May. I am living in a winter wonderland, if you want to put a positive spin on the fresh snow blanketing the landscape.

Our measurements showed seven inches. I expect we got closer to a a foot of snow since it began falling Wednesday afternoon.

An unofficial seven inches of snow have fallen here by measurement of the yardstick my husband thrust into the snow this morning. I expect we got more like 12 inches as much melted upon hitting the ground. I believe the old record for this date in Minnesota was three inches in 1946.

Owatonna, 15 miles to the south got 13 inches in this storm. Falling snow limited the time I spent outdoors with my camera this morning.

Schools are closed.

My husband blowing out our driveway.

It’s a mess out there.

A limb broke off my neighbor’s tree around 6 a.m., striking her house and then smashing onto her car, breaking the windshield. In this photo my husband had already sawed a portion of the limb off. We then pulled this remaining limb from her car so she could move it, before another limb fell.

Branches are down all over, including at my new neighbor's house across the street.

Branches are down all over, including at my neighbor’s house across the street.

Look to the upper left in this photo and you’ll see one particular limb broken off and looming over my neighbor’s yard.

This shows the intersection right by my house and my husband blowing snow. Note the sagging utility lines.

Branches are broken and littering yards. Power lines are sagging from the weight of the heavy wet snow.

I opened the garage door this morning to this scene.

Cars are buried in driveways and residents are slogging through the snow with snowblowers.

Clearing our snow-covered driveway.

Our snowy backyard.

Note, again, the sagging power lines in this shot taken from my backyard looking toward my neighbor’s house across Willow Street.

Need I say more.

I want out.

JUST AS I WAS WRAPPING up this post, the snowplow barreled past my house, throwing the snow with such force that it blasted the side of our house and the bedroom window. I checked the window and it doesn’t appear to be broken.

UPDATE 3:55 P.M.: Tree service removal trucks and the buzz of chain saws have frequented my neighborhood this afternoon as clean up begins after the storm.

A tree service company arrived at my neighbor’s house across the street this afternoon to remove dangling limbs. That’s her car with the smashed windshield to the left in this photo. See my earlier photo of the car (above) when parked in her driveway this morning. The limb crashed onto her car at about 6 a.m.

Directly across Willow Street from my home, another neighbor had to deal with fallen branches and limbs in his yard.

A City of Faribault snowplow driver and a Thompson Tree Service worker confer along Willow Street this morning.

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Hello, God, this is May 1, not March 1 May 1, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 4:37 PM
Tags: friends, God, May Day, Minnesota, snow, thoughts, weather, winter, winter storm warning

SOMETIMES I NEED a reminder.

And in this year of the Minnesota winter which never ends, I’ve needed multiple reminders.

Wednesday morning, I received this note attached to a May Day treat bag deposited on my front steps:

This is the “May” that the Lord has made.

Indeed.

As I write, heavy snow is falling. Parts of Minnesota, including my area, are under a winter storm warming until 7 p.m. Thursday. The National Weather Service is predicting a “powerful winter storm” with snow accumulations of six to nine inches.

Happy first day of May!

But thanks to our friends, the Lerass family, this whole day has become brighter, more bearable, with that pointed message and a sweet homemade treat tucked inside an artfully decorated paper bag. To have such friends, reminding me that I should rejoice in whatever day I’ve been given, rates as a wonderful blessing.

Added to that May Day delight, my husband and I received an early wedding anniversary card from our future son-in-law’s parents. Another reason to smile on this dreary day, this May 1 which the Lord has made.

Apparently God has a sense of humor.

A few days ago He blessed me with daffodils and sunshine, a redemption, I suppose, for the snowfall to come.

UPDATE 6:59 P.M.: Since publishing this post late this afternoon, my doorbell rang for the second time today. I opened it to find another May basket, this one from the Weeg family. My friends clearly know that I love chocolate and the color green. (Right, Billie Jo?) How blessed I am to have such thoughtful friends.

Weather-wise, snow continues to fall, as shown in these two photos just taken from my bedroom window. No taking the camera outside during snowfall.

Happy ~~March~~ May Day, everyone.

My backyard in the foreground with Willow Street and my neighborhood beyond.

When I showed you my backyard a few days ago, it was snow-free. Not so this evening.

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An evening with Minnesota poet Todd Boss in Owatonna

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:40 AM
Tags: cowboy poetry, library, Minnesota, Owatonna, Owatonna Public Library, Pitch, poems, poetry, poetry reading, Poets at the Library Tour, St. Paul, Todd Boss, Yellowrocket

Todd Boss reads his poetry Tuesday evening at the Owatonna Public Library.

Todd Boss talks about poetry Tuesday evening at the Owatonna Public Library.

HE READS WITH THE CADENCE of a seasoned poet, with the ease of familiarity, written words fitting his voice like a comfortable pair of boots.

Which is exactly what award-winning St. Paul poet Todd Boss sported, along with faded jeans and a long-sleeved plaid shirt, to a “Poets at the Library Tour” event Tuesday evening at the Owatonna Public Library.

Todd Boss’ boots.

Casual, laid back and unpretentious, Boss settled in to read from his poetry books, Yellowrocket and Pitch, Minnesota Book Award finalists in 2009 and 2013 respectively.

Before reading a poem set in Luckenbach, Texas, Boss shared that a woman from New York wants to include him in a dissertation she’s writing on cowboy poetry. He showed off his cowboy boots, then laughed. The audience laughed, too. While Boss often writes about his rural Wisconsin upbringing, he isn’t exactly a cowboy poet. Audience members agreed with Boss that Wisconsinites and Minnesotans live on farms, not ranches, defined by this poet as big open landscapes of earthy hues.

Later he referenced the New York perspective again: “My mother used to read a lot of poetry on the ranch.” Ranch. A carefully chosen word. Just like the words in his detailed and rhythm rich poems.

Reading from Pitch.

Boss read poetry about card playing, wood piles, his mother, an exchange with a check-out clerk at a Minneapolis food co-op, the 35W bridge collapse…

He revealed, too, that when he writes about his parents, he gives them the option of nixing those personal poems. They never have, a point audience members noted as respectful—of Boss in asking and of his parents in respecting his work.

Audience members read their poetry prior to Boss' reading. Some audience members, like me, were honored at a "Meet and Greet the Poets" reception earlier for those published in Poetic Strokes 2013, a regional anthology of poetry published by Southeastern Libraries Cooperating.

Numerous audience members read their poetry prior to Boss’ reading. Some, like me, were honored at a “Meet and Greet the Poets” reception earlier for those published in Poetic Strokes 2013, A Regional Anthology of Poetry From Southeastern Minnesota. Southeastern Libraries Cooperating publishes the annual collection.

Boss is that kind of caring guy. After listening to audience members read poetry before his presentation, he thanked them, defining their readings as “a little bit like overhearing people’s prayers…things they’re worried about.”

He’s genuine and honest enough to admit that he doesn’t write every day, but that he should and that he’s sometimes lazy about writing.

And, yes, he actually earns a living writing poetry; touring the state and country reading poetry; collaborating on his grant-funded motionpoems; and, most recently, undertaking a public art project, an art/poetry installation on the five-year anniversary of the 35W bridge collapse.

He’s a farm boy from Wisconsin now living in the big city, but still strongly connected to his rural roots via his poetry.

If Tuesday’s event had been held at a ranch, instead of the third floor of a public library, audience members would have gathered around the campfire to hear Boss, cowboy boots resting on a chunk of wood, strumming his not-exactly-cowboy-poetry rhythmic poetry.

FYI: In addition to publishing two books of poetry, Boss works with animator/producer Angella Kassube on producing motionpoems, which “turn contemporary American poems into short films. To learn more about this grant-supported non-profit project, click here.

And click here to link to Todd Boss’ website.

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“I hated myself”: Journey to recovery through Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge April 30, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:39 AM
Tags: alcohol addiction, drug abuse, drug addiction, faith, Faribault, God, inspiration, life, Minnesota, Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, music, recovery programs, recovery stories, Trinity Lutheran Church

A member of the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Choir sings a solo during a presentation on Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault.

A member of the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Choir rehearses his solo before a concert on Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault.

SHE’S FOUR MONTHS to graduation, this mother of four, this 13-year meth addict.

Jill speaks with passion, sharing her downward spiral into addiction and her remarkable recovery through Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. Her voice raw with emotion, Jill reveals how, as a single mom trying to raise a son and a daughter, who had cystic fibrosis, she gave her girl up for adoption. That pushed her over the edge.

Later, she would marry, have two more children and, eventually, her husband would enter treatment at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, a faith-based recovery program for those with drug and alcohol addictions. “I watched him turn into a godly man,” Jill says. “Our lives are unbelievable. We love each other. It’s amazing what God can do when He’s in your life. He restores.”

Praise and personal testimonies highlighted the choir’s performance.

By age 13, James from my community of Faribault, was smoking crank out of a light bulb. The son of a teacher and social worker, he had no direction or purpose in life. He was using and selling drugs and breaking into places. By age 22, he’d been to prison twice, had a son. “You try to manage and have as much fun as you can before you get locked up again,” he says.

He also used heroin. Then his brother died. “They’re thinking they’re going to bury two kids in the same month,” James says of his parents.

In 2011 he graduated from the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge treatment program. “I found God and feel God. I have the joy of the Lord.”

And then James shares more. He was once best friends with a 27-year-old Faribault man charged last week with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree and second-degree assault in an attack on his fiance, stabbed more than 30 times. She survived and is out of the hospital.

“Bad things happen…God sustains you,” this former addict says.

Heartbreaking and inspirational stories were shared.

A soloist performs with the choir.

Heidi, 22, the daughter of divorced parents and an alcoholic father, grew up in a small town. She started drinking, eventually wracked up two driving under the influence charges, was in and out of court-ordered treatment.

She turned to abusing prescription drugs, yet managed to go to college, even held a job in sales. She stole from her family, got into heroin.

By her admission, Heidi says, “I threw away opportunities in life…I hated myself…I was sitting in my apartment all day getting high.”

Then she overdosed, suffered a seizure.

Heidi is set to graduate in May from Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. “I needed a relationship with God,” this young woman says.

IF YOU’VE NEVER attended a Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge presentation like the concert/personal testimonies I heard at my church, Trinity Lutheran in Faribault, on Sunday, I’d encourage you to do so. You will never forget the stories of these courageous individuals who have overcome so much to reclaim their lives and their families and forge new relationships with God.

Choir members line up and dish up at the potluck after the service and concert.

At the potluck dinner after the concert, I sat with Tyler, a 20-year recovering heroin addict and father of two boys, 9 and 13. When his wife died two years ago, Tyler knew he needed to change. You’d never guess, just looking at and talking with this well-groomed and articulate young man, that he’d once been into drugs. He’s been in and out of treatment several times. But this time, in the longer one-year faith-based recovery program, Tyler’s succeeded. He’s set to graduate soon, will start college and work, and get his boys back.

Tyler, Jill, James and Heidi and about 35 others, through primarily song and those few personal testimonials, brought their messages of hope, joy and recovery to my church through the center’s community outreach program.

Anthony Bass, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1998-2000 and is now the church relations manager for Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge and is planting a church in northeast Minneapolis, says the on-the-road programs are part of an effort to help fight heroin, meth and prescription drug addictions, showing “how God’s power has helped and restored.”

Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge has eight facilities in Minnesota—in Minneapolis, Brainerd and Duluth and one soon to open in Rochester. The name was changed last October from Minnesota Teen Challenge to Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, more accurately reflecting the ages of program participants. Eighty percent are over age 18.

Bass also asked for prayers and financial support.

The Trinity Quilt Makers gifted the group with this stash of quilts.

As I sang the hymn, “Who Are You Who Walk in Sorrow,” with the congregation and choir members, I considered how fitting these words:

Great companion on our journey,
Still surprise us with Your grace!
Make each day a new Emmaus;
On our hearts Your image trace!

FYI: Click here to learn more about Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge.

(Note that I may or may not have the correct spellings of names referenced in this story. I did not check the spellings. And, yes, I asked and was given permission, to photograph the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Choir.)

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Chalking poetry April 29, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 10:00 PM
Tags: chalk, National Poetry Month, poems, poetry, Roadside Poetry Project, sidewalk poetry, spring

FOR WEEKS I’VE WANTED to chalk poetry onto the sidewalk past my house in celebration of National Poetry Month in April.

But not until today, April 29, did sunny and dry weather finally allow for chalking.

A week ago six inches of snow fell, for gosh sakes. Rain fell early yesterday evening.

The first two parts of my illustrated poem.

The first three lines of my illustrated poem.

After sweeping winter sand from several sections of sidewalk, I scouted for the box of chalk in the garage then proceeded to print my poem:

Cold earth warmed
by budding sun
sprouts the seeds
of vernal equinox

Two springs ago, this poem published on four billboards as part of the Roadside Poetry Project in Fergus Falls.

I thought my poem particularly fitting for re-publication this morning on my sidewalk.

The entire poem, plus “In celebration of National Poetry Month” tacked onto the end.

So if you are walking past my house, take note, read and enjoy.

Before the rain, or snow, washes away my poetry. And, yes, snow is apparently in the forecast for later this week, so two friends tell me.

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How I spent my first weekend of spring

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:02 AM
Tags: cigarette smoke, Frankoma pottery, furniture refinishing, garage sale, life, Minnesota, outdoors, perennials, spring, teapot, winter

Perennials are finally popping through the earth in my yard.

SPRING OFFICIALLY SPRANG in southern Minnesota this weekend.

Yes, readers. No snow. Temps in the 70s, maybe even 80s. I should know, but I was too busy to check.

Flip flop weather, for sure.

Sunshine and windows thrown wide open to vent the stale winter air from the house.

Most of my weekend I labored outside, trying to make up for lost time, for all those weekends when snow and cold prohibited any sort of outdoor work.

I raked these leaves from backyard flower beds. Look at that lawn and the hillside. No snow. Anywhere.

I raked leaves from perennial flower beds.

And when I wasn’t raking, I was sanding a table for our son who moves into a Rochester apartment a week after my husband and I retrieve him from college in Fargo. He’s interning with IBM. The oak table, purchased at a thrift store for a song, needed refinishing.

Compare the two table halves, the left side stripped and sanded, the right side top, not.

Smokers owned the table. Do not ever, I repeat, ever, purchase a table owned by anyone who smoked cigarettes. Do you know how difficult it is to remove cigarette smoke odor and tar and nicotine build-up from wood? Nearly impossible.

I sanded the skin right off tiny sections of two fingers from the hours, and I do mean hours, I sanded. Take that times two, because Randy worked side-by-side with me. All the while I was thinking, if this cigarette-exposed wood looks like this, imagine a smoker’s body inside and out.

Lecture finished for today.

The Frankoma teapot I purchased. There’ s a slight chip in the lid handle.

On the way to the paint store to purchase supplies for that table refinishing project, I stopped at a garage sale and picked up a beautiful Frankoma teapot. I seldom drink tea, but I loved the artful shape and simple style of this collectible.

As a bonus, Mike, the guy having the garage sale, told me about all the old Mason and other fruit jars he buys and rents out for weddings and/or sells after I noticed an oversized blue jar for sale.. Since my eldest daughter is getting married this fall and mentioned perhaps using fruit jars for flowers, I was interested. So Mike took me inside his old stone house and showed me his boxes upon boxes of jars.

Although the jars initially drew me inside, they were not the find of the day. In the corner of Mike’s living room stood a deer. Yes, readers, a deer. Dead, of course, and mounted. An entire deer, not just the head, although several deer heads are suspended from walls, too.

Totally creeped me out and I told Mike that. He may have laughed. I so regret leaving my camera at home.

BONUS PHOTO:

My husband grills year round, so there’s nothing unusual about him grilling this weekend. But focus on that landscape. No snow. Anywhere.

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Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Old Glory at the elevator in Castle Rock May 6, 2013

Thrice blessed on a Sunday May 5, 2013

Hope unfurls May 4, 2013

A photographic escape to Two Rivers, Wisconsin May 3, 2013

Unbelievable! Record snowfall on May 2 in Faribault, Minnesota May 2, 2013

Hello, God, this is May 1, not March 1 May 1, 2013

An evening with Minnesota poet Todd Boss in Owatonna

“I hated myself”: Journey to recovery through Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge April 30, 2013

Chalking poetry April 29, 2013

How I spent my first weekend of spring

Follow Minnesota Prairie Roots via Email

An essay of barn photos & memories; In praise of preserving country churches; & Testing the track during a Soap Box Derby trial run in Faribault

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