Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Jigsaw puzzle love in Minnesota: “Speed puzzling” & twists February 7, 2024

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Puzzles on loan to us from our eldest daughter. Randy quickly finished the toy puzzle. Now he’s working on “Minnesota Spirit,” a challenge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2024)

IF YOU ARE A JIGSAW puzzle enthusiast, then you are a “dissectologist.” Who knew a name existed for those who love sorting and assembling jigsaw puzzle pieces into completed puzzles? Not me. While I appreciate learning a new word, I don’t engage in this primarily winter pastime. But many Minnesotans do.

Speed puzzling competitions have exploded in popularity, including right here in the southern part of our state. From libraries to breweries to community events and beyond, jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts gather and compete to finish their puzzles first. This week the Elysian Public Library hosted a Jigsaw Puzzle Derby. The Owatonna library held a competition in January. The St. Paul Winter Carnival did likewise.

Randy quickly assembled this 300-piece puzzle from White Mountain Puzzles. Here the puzzle box sits atop the finished puzzle. The toy theme had us both reminiscing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2024)

More competitions are planned throughout our region, because, well, we still have plenty of winter remaining. On February 10, Creekside Community Center in Bloomington is holding a Family Jigsaw Puzzle Competition. Angry Inch Brewing in Lakeville hosts a Jigsaw Puzzle Contest on March 6, Mankato Brewery on March 17 and Surly Brewing in Minneapolis on March 27. And at the Historic Chateau Theatre in Rochester, the venue hosts a Downtown Puzzle Contest on March 9. And well to the north, the St. Louis County Depot is the site of the Duluth Jigsaw Puzzle Contest April 19-20. I expect many other places in Minnesota hold jigsaw puzzle contests. One need only search for those events online.

A Facebook group, Minnesota Jigsaw Puzzle Association Puzzling Group, even exists for Minnesotans who are die-hard jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts. I have more than a few in-laws on my husband’s side who love putting puzzles together so much so that last summer a puzzle exchange was part of the annual Helbling family reunion. Bring a puzzle or three and take home a puzzle or three. It was an idea enthusiastically embraced.

A sample of Minnesota-themed puzzle pieces in “Minnesota Spirit” by Nancy Patrick Carney. (Minnesota Prairie Roots photo February 2024)

Right now, two card tables sit in our living room where Randy is assembling a “Minnesota Spirit” jigsaw puzzle designed by Minneapolis artist Nancy Patrick Carney. The 1,000-piece puzzle features all things Minnesotan—from University of Minnesota mascot Goldy Gopher to the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth to Red Wing boots, the Mayo Clinic, Jeffers petroglyphs, SPAM luncheon meat, Laura Ingalls Wilder, birthplace of the Mississippi River, Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, and so much more. Each area of our state is well-represented in puzzle art.

The back of the puzzle box explains the PuzzleTwist concept. (Minnesota Prairie Roots photo February 2024)

But “Minnesota Spirit,” along with other puzzles created by Maynard’s LLC in Minneapolis, is not your ordinary jigsaw puzzles. Many are Something’s Amiss!® PuzzleTwist® puzzles, meaning the completed puzzle will not look the same as the puzzle featured on the box cover. In “Minnesota Spirit,” there are 56 differences ranging from colors to locations within the puzzle to added art. These twists take jigsaw puzzles to the next level for those who really want to be challenged.

The list of Minnesota (and other) jigsaw puzzles by Maynard’s is lengthy, covering topics like Minnesota state parks, landmarks and much more. There’s “MinneSNOWta” and “You Betcha!” and “Minnesota State Fair,” for example.

A close-up angled view of the “I Remember Those!” toy puzzle. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo February 2024)

Now, what makes someone love assembling jigsaw puzzles (like Randy, our eldest daughter, many of my in-laws and my grandkids)? What makes folks compete in speed puzzling? The challenge? The sense of accomplishment? Entertainment? Perhaps in the depths of winter, it’s simply a way to pass the time indoors. Only a true “dissectologist” can answer those questions. And I am not one. I am only a puzzler of words.

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TELL ME: Are you a dissectologist? If you like putting puzzles together, why do you enjoy this pastime? Have you competed in speed puzzling?

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

House Divided, the game February 6, 2024

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The frosted cover of Monopoly House Divided, left on a table in Central Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

NOW THAT CAUCUSES and primaries have kicked off, this seems a fitting time to share photos I took a few months back at Faribault’s Central Park. But first the back story. Randy and I sometimes walk in and around this block square park and into adjacent neighborhoods for exercise. Occasionally while crossing through Central Park, I’ve noticed miscellaneous items left there, like abandoned boxes of food, articles of clothing, even Play Doh slime. I would pull out my smartphone and document my finds.

I have no idea why this game was left on a picnic table or by whom. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

On the frosty morning I spotted play money scattered across the grass and a board game atop a picnic table, I took extra time to investigate. I found a political version of Monopoly, Hasbro’s House Divided. Who knew? But I suppose given the political scene in this country, the constant bickering between parties, this should not have been a surprise. Let the board game company make money on the division within our nation.

The board game was lying open on the table as if the players abandoned it mid-play. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

The game features “Executive Power” and “I Voted” cards and rules that allow players to buy states, earn votes and collect rent while on the campaign trail to the White House. That’s a simplified summary.

That’s the White House in the front. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

Now, I loved Monopoly as a child. Randy played the game with our kids, often sprawling across the living room floor on Sunday afternoons. By that time I had no interest in the game. And I have no interest in playing House Divided Monopoly. There’s enough division and chaos in the real world of politics to focus on it in a competitive board game.

Playing pieces on the frosted board game cover. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

I’m already weary of the current presidential campaign, and it’s only just begun. How many months until the election?

TELL ME: Have you played this version of Monopoly? If yes, what are your thoughts on the game?

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NOTE: I don’t want the comments section to turn into a space for heated political debate and discussion. That is not my intention. As always, I reserve the right on this, my personal blog, to publish or not publish comments.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Update: My eyes are aligned February 5, 2024

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My old glasses with prisms atop information about bilateral strabismus eye surgery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2023)

TWO WEEKS OUT from bilateral strabismus eye surgery at M Health Fairview Clinics and Surgery Center in Minneapolis, my vision is looking good, pun intended.

Neuro ophthalmologist Dr. Collin McClelland was pleased with the results of his 1.5-hour surgery on my eyes. I saw him and his team last Wednesday for my post op visit. My previously misaligned eyes are now in full alignment. In three to four months, I should know the final outcome. Eyes can shift yet as muscles heal and my brain adapts to the new alignment.

Updated glasses (minus prisms) and updated eyes, nine days after surgery. (Copyrighted photo by Randy Helbling)

This is a process, this recovery and healing. I can tell my brain is working hard to adapt to my new way of seeing the world. My eyes remain red, irritated and itchy. But I am looking less ghoulish each day with my eyes no longer leaking fluid and blood. Time, healing, ointment and eye drops have all helped.

Mostly gone is the double vision which led me first to my local ophthalmologist late last summer and then to the specialist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in October. Today I see double only upon awakening and for a while thereafter and when I’m overly-tired. That compares to more often than I could count pre-surgery. That is reason to feel thankful.

As you may expect, I arrived at my post-op visit with a list of questions, tasking Randy to take notes as I focused on eye checks done by two doctors and another medical staff member. Yes, the exams were repetitive and exhausting. But I appreciate the thoroughness of the post-op evaluations.

I won’t get into the medical details of my surgery, not that I understand them anyway. But I learned that Dr. McClelland worked on two muscles in my right eye and one in my left to realign my eyes. He had to work through extensive scar tissue from this same surgery done in 1960 by Dr. Theodore Fritsche in New Ulm.

This is what I looked like shortly after surgery in the recovery room. If you look closely at my left eye, right above the steri strips, you’ll see a black thread taped to my skin. That’s the end of the adjustable suture. (Copyrighted photo by Randy Helbling. I asked him to take the photo, not realizing how awful I looked.)

Perhaps the most intriguing part of my recent surgery is the adjustable sutures stitched into my left eye. That’s exactly what it means. Adjustable. During recovery, when I was alert enough to focus on a big letter E across the room, Dr. McClelland tweaked the alignment based on what I saw. Twice he had to pull on the sutures to move my left eye into alignment. I’m thankful for the topical anesthetic eye drops that semi dulled the pain and for my inability to clearly see what he was doing. I could only see the blurry movement of his hands and what I think was a tweezers. I will admit the tug on my eye felt unsettling.

Several days post-surgery, I was already looking better. It’s difficult to see my red eyes in this image. But trust me, they were still very red. The flowers are from my dear children, sons-in-law and grandkids. (Photo credit: Randy Helbling)

But here I am today, two weeks out from all of that. Each day brings some improvement in the physical appearance of my eyes and in the way my eyes feel. I still feel, though, like a pebble is stuck in my right eye. That, my surgeon explained, is likely the end of a suture irritating my eye. I asked him to clip it off. Of course, I was joking because I realized he couldn’t possibly do that. But I had to bring some humor into the post-op exam room where medical residents listened, observed and learned.

Healing takes time and patience. Not only do my eye muscles need to heal, but my brain needs time to adjust. I’ve learned a lot about the brain in the past year since developing neurological issues from COVID and undergoing six months of vestibular rehab therapy, finishing that less than five months ago. My brain, an amazing and complex organ, is still trying to manage all that goes into it.

Beth, a blogger friend from Michigan, sent this handcrafted get well card, which made me laugh aloud. I love it and all the other cards and wishes I’ve received. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2024)

Now with this recent eye surgery, I must limit screen and reading time. I learned this past Saturday that shopping is like physical therapy for my eye muscles and brain. My eyes hurt and I felt exhausted after grocery shopping and stops at Books on Central, Eclectic Alliance and a Big Box retailer. Eyes move a lot when you’re looking at items on store shelves. I overdid it.

My vision is not crystal clear and is sometimes blurry and distorted. I haven’t attempted photography yet, except with my cellphone. Putting anti-inflammatory drops into my eyes four times a day to reduce inflammation has proven challenging. I can’t seem to master that skill. I am thankful for Randy’s help.

Meanwhile, I am wearing prescription glasses without prisms. Before surgery, no number of prisms would correct my double vision. To see such improvements so soon after surgery leaves me feeling grateful to my surgeon and this team—for their knowledge, their skill and their compassion.

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NOTE: I am grateful also to you, my blog readers, for your support and encouragement offered in the comments section and in get well cards I’ve received. You’ve lifted my spirits. Thank you.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Observations about Minnesota from a life-long resident January 31, 2024

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Minnesota wood art with Minnesota shape by Spanky’s Woodshed of Faribault, metal roots by my friend Steve and assembled by my husband, Randy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2024)

AS A LIFE-LONG MINNESOTAN, I speak Minnesotan. It’s hotdish, not casserole. Pop, not soda. Bars may be a sweet treat baked in a cake pan and cut into squares or a place to imbibe. And when someone is going Up North, it’s not to Canada, but typically to the cabin in the Brainerd lakes area or thereabouts.

A serene country scene just north of Lamberton in southern Redwood County, my home county. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I’m proud to be rooted in this state many consider fly-over land. On a road trip to the East Coast a few years back, folks, upon learning I was from Minnesota, reacted, “Oh, it’s cold and snowy there.” I’m just fine with non-residents thinking that. It is cold for much of the year. And it is snowy, too, most winters. But we have four distinct seasons to be appreciated in a state that is geographically diverse. Prairie. Woods. Bluffs. Rolling land. Farm fields. Cliffs that rise above the Mississippi River and Lake Superior. Wilderness. Lakes numbering 10,000-plus. All inside our spacious borders.

Downtown Minneapolis skyline. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

And outside “The Cities,” as we term the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, away from metro lights, the night sky is dark, expansive and filled with more stars than you can imagine. Sky and land defined my childhood home on the vast prairie of southwestern Minnesota. But even here in southeastern Minnesota, the sky is big as noted by a Boston visitor. She saw the Minnesota night sky for the first time as we drove her to Faribault from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The infinite number of stars impressed her. Northern lights (the aurora borealis), which I have yet to see, are also an attraction.

Paul Bunyan is primarily a central and northern Minnesota legend. But he can also be found in southern Minnesota, like on this sign in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)

If I sound like I work for the Minnesota Department of Tourism, I don’t. That job falls to legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan, unofficial tourism CEO. Clad in his signature buffalo plaid flannel, he is easily recognizable, much-loved and a trendsetter in fashion in the North Star State. I would venture to guess that nearly every Minnesotan owns a collection of flannel shirts. They are my go-to winter attire.

An updated version of “How to Talk Minnesota” is a good guidebook to Minnesota speak.

Did I mention that we don’t speak Fargo, even if that North Dakota city sits across the Red River from Moorhead, Minnesota? I’ve been told we drag out the “o” sound in a distinctly Minnesoooootan sound. Could be. I don’t necessarily hear it. I don’t deny, though, that we are obsessed about the weather. Conversations within our borders usually include one weather reference whether it be wind chill or humidity or “hot enough for you?”.

This sandwich board in small town Belview promotes one of Minnesota’s signature dishes, Tater Tot Hotdish, as a noon special. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2019)

Minnesotans are known for a thing called “Minnesota Nice,” which I like to believe is true most of the time. We are a bit reserved, use phrases like “that’s different” or “that’s interesting” when we really don’t like something or disagree, but want to be nice by holding back our honest thoughts.

The Minnesota sweet treat known as bars, often served with “a little lunch.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Our goodbyes are prolonged. Often, as visiting family is leaving my home, I find myself either standing in the driveway or window waving, waving, waving. That follows the hugs I’ve given only minutes earlier. You can’t get in too many goodbye waves.

The Woodtick Inn in Cuyuna hosts Woodtick Races each summer. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo August 2021)

Meat raffles, potlucks, ice fishing, lutefisk dinners (or suppers, depending on time of day), fish fries, snowmobile races, hockey, naming our snowplows, all are part of Minnesota culture. Even wood tick races (at the Woodtick Inn in Cuyuna).

Pines border the driveway leading to a central Minnesota lake cabin. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I love this state where I’ve lived my entire life, even when I complain about the long winters and abundance of mosquitoes. This is home. Always has been. Always will be.

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IF YOU HAVE any questions about Minnesota, any observations, anything you want to share, please do. Just follow the rules of “Minnesota Nice.”

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The healing power of smiles & laughter January 29, 2024

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(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2018, used for illustration only)

A WEEK OUT FROM BILATERAL STRABISMUS eye surgery to realign my eyes, I am feeling like most people post-surgery. I want this healing and recovery process to move faster. I feel as if I’ve stalled after an initial sprint. So it goes.

In the meantime, this past weekend brought some much-needed laughter into my life. Laughter is healing. It was also the theme of Global Game Jam, a week-long world-wide game development event. My son, who lives and works half a country away in greater Boston, participated, working with three others to create the video game “Addicted to Laughter.” That followed the event theme of “Make Me Laugh.” I love that theme because we need more laughter in this world.

I’ve personally needed extra laughter in the past week during my recovery. Laughter is a good diversion when dealing with eye pain/irritation, headaches, insomnia, distorted/blurry/double vision and a brain that is working over-time to adapt to my newly-aligned eyes. Yes, side effects should lessen, but in the meantime…

Photo I took of the DVD collection

Randy and I have been binge-watching a DVD collection of Blue Collar TV sketches by comedians Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall. Some of the content is more redneck and offensive than I like. But all in all, the trio made me laugh. Kudos to Randy for choosing this when I asked him to “find something funny” to check out from our local public library. I’d rather be reading, but my ability to read for any length of time is currently limited.

A smiley face has long graced this building near Roberds Lake, rural Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

But I have read, and appreciate, the many get well cards I’ve received, including one from my cousin Diane. It’s sunny yellow with smiley face art. Simply reading the words and seeing all those printed smiley faces make me smile and laugh aloud at some of the statements (like turning cartwheels) in this “The Healing Power of the Smiley Face” themed card. And, bonus, I’ve always loved smiley faces and once had a vivid yellow smiley face bulletin board hanging in my lime green basement bedroom with candy striped carpet. Ah, sweet memories of teenage years…

“Tranquil Garden Bouquet” had me smiling broadly Thursday afternoon. (Photo credit: Randy Helbling)

I must sidetrack here for a moment to share that my dear family of three adult children, two sons-in-law and two grandchildren sent me the most stunning flowers Thursday afternoon. I cannot begin to tell you how much that bouquet and the enclosed message lifted my spirits. I felt as if a million smiley faces were floating in a thought balloon around my head.

I felt the same late Saturday afternoon after a visit from dear friends Tammy and Billie Jo. I haven’t seen Tammy in several years; she and her family moved to northwestern Minnesota. When Tammy walked in the kitchen door, we embraced in a fierce hug. And I realized just how much I’ve missed her. I nearly cried at the joy of seeing her again. And so the three of us talked and laughed and talked and laughed and talked and laughed. Laughter heals.

Me, five days after eye surgery, posing in front of Dave Angell’s photo of alligators in Africa. (Photo credit: Randy Helbling)

My grandkids often make me laugh with their observations. Isaac, 5, didn’t let Grandma down after I texted a photo to his mom, my eldest daughter Amber, on Saturday. The day prior, Amber sent an image of Isaac outside the crocodile exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo. So when Randy and I viewed an exhibit by Faribault wildlife photographer Dave Angell at the Paradise Center for the Arts Saturday morning, I knew I needed a photo of me with Angell’s photo of alligators in the wilds of Africa. (Angell’s one gifted photographer.)

Isaac was not impressed by my efforts. “Those aren’t real!” he told his mom. I read his response and laughed aloud. Laughter heals. Oh, yes, it does.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A post eye surgery update January 24, 2024

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Not a good photo at all…but this gives you an idea of what my eyes look like. Randy took this pic Tuesday afternoon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo January 2024)

TWO DAYS OUT from bilateral strabismus eye surgery at M Health Fairview Surgery Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, I am looking less Frankenstein’s monster than I did. Not that I look exactly like the fictional monster created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s novel. But I feel like I appear as ghoulish with my red, fluid-leaking eyes.

All humor aside, surgery to correct my eye misalignment went well. Neuro ophthalmologist Dr. Collin McClelland and his team performed the 1 ½-hour surgery on both eyes Monday morning with adjustable sutures stitched in my left eye. Post surgery, Dr. McClelland pulled the left eye stitches to tweak the alignment before tying them off. Yes, I was awake. Yes, it was painful.

On surgery day, the surgeon was pleased with results. Healing, time and my brain adjusting to my new vision will determine the final outcome. But I am optimistic that my double vision will be mostly, or totally, eliminated.

In the meantime, I’ve dealt with pain managed by over-the-counter meds and have tried to rest my eyes. For someone who likes to read and write, it’s a challenge to limit both. But when my eyes hurt, I’m relieved to shut them.

Finally, last night, I slept well. Each day brings improvement. Less pain. Less blood and fluid seeping from my eyes. Healing takes time and patience.

Randy has been a great support along with serving as resident nurse and pharmacist. He squeezes ointment into my eyes thrice daily to prevent infection. I struggle with putting anything in my eyes and would likely misjudge and stab my eyes with the ointment tube. I can’t have that happening.

Occasional blurry vision and double vision, especially upon awakening in the morning, continue. My eyes feel gritty. This is not unexpected. My eyes have been through a lot of trauma with this surgery. The surgeon found extensive scarring in both eyes from this same surgery done in 1960 by Dr. Theodore Fritsche in New Ulm. Dr. Fritsche’s corrective repair of my misaligned four-year-old eyes lasted 60-plus years. If my new surgeon’s work lasts that long, I will be good to go.

Onward.

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FYI: I will continue to limit my screen time as I recover. But feel free to leave comments because I will read them at some point. I likely will not reply, though. I appreciate all of the support, encouragement and prayers from you, my dear dear readers. Thank you.

Once I’m feeling better and am able to write more, I will share more about my surgery day experience. I assuredly have stories to tell (once a journalist, always a journalist) from my time at M Health Fairview, where I received excellent and compassionate care.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Collecting rocks in southern Minnesota

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My eyes have always been drawn to rocks in nature, here in the creek twisting through Falls Creek Park, rural Rice County. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo June 2020)

THEY WERE ROCK HOUNDS, the great uncles who hunted, collected, cut, polished and made rocks in to jewelry. The bachelor brothers were passionate about their hobby, delighted to share their enthusiasm, and their rock collection, with their great nieces and nephews.

I remember the excitement of arriving at Uncle Walter and Uncle Harvey’s Redwood County farm home, where they lived with my great grandma and with their sister Dora. My siblings and I nearly flew out of Dad’s Chevy, through the front door of the farmhouse and down the basement stairs to Rock Station Central.

Agates in water, Faribault Farmers’ Market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2019)

My great uncles enthusiastically welcomed us, showing us Lake Superior and honey agates, garnets, geodes and all sorts of rocks they’d found on their forays West and to Minnesota’s North Shore. We fingered uncut stones and polished stones as the pair schooled us in identifying rocks. And they always, always, sent us home with handfuls of small polished stones. And occasionally they gifted us with jewelry they’d made.

The Straight River churns over rocks at Morehouse Park in Owatonna. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Although this scene played out decades ago, my fascination with rocks remains. I still find myself looking for agates, admiring unusual stones while out in nature. I’m no rock hound, simply someone who appreciates the beauty of rocks thanks to those two caring great uncles.

My friend Joy paints rocks with inspirational messages and fun art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)
Joy’s original rock art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)
Joy’s whimsical rabbit rock art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)

But my interest, my search for rocks has taken a modern day twist, one Walter and Harvey likely would approve of even if not a purist form of rock collecting. I collect inspirational and artsy rocks with my camera. These are painted rocks upon which a single word, message or image has been written, painted or adhered. Whenever I find one—and I’ve found them in many public places throughout southern Minnesota—I photograph them. I feel the same giddiness I experienced many years ago in that farmhouse basement.

Found at Mineral Springs Park, Owatonna. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2020)
Colorful stickers on painted rocks found at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)
Found in Faribault’s Central Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

My thrill in discovering painted rocks focuses on the positive messages or images thereon. There’s something undeniably beautiful and wonderful and uplifting about these inspirational rocks. I feel such happiness, such gratitude for the individuals who create, then share, these stones. Rather like my great uncles who showed their love for family via sharing of their rock collection.

Single words inspire on a series of painted rocks found at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)

This painting of rocks has spread worldwide as The Kindness Rocks Project with a mission “to cultivate connections within communities and lift others up through simple acts of kindness.” It’s a simple, and much-needed, project in a world filled with discord, division and, yes, even hatred.

Found outside a meat market in Lonsdale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)
A simple message found at Falls Creek Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2022)
A fun find at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)

We need more inspirational, artistic rocks scattered in public spaces. I’ve most often found them in parks, tucked along the edges of flowerbeds, sometimes on ledges and steps and at the bases of trees. I’ve found them along trails, outside a public library. Typically they are hidden in multiples.

An especially inspiring message written on a rock painted by Joy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)
All it takes are stickers and stones to create art, this found at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2023)
This rock painted by a great niece sits on my office desk, a daily inspiration to me. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

My reaction is always the same. Joy. Excitement. I’m suddenly that little girl again standing next to her great uncles at Rock Station Central. I feel loved. I feel, too, as if I’ve uncovered a treasure, a treasure of kindness and positivity and inspiration. And that uplifts me, gives me hope for humanity, that much goodness still remains in this world.

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FYI: For anyone in southern Minnesota interested in rock collecting (like my great uncles did), the Steele County Gem and Mineral Club meets at 6 pm on the second Monday of the month at the Owatonna Public Library.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A programming note & thoughts of gratitude January 20, 2024

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Expressions of gratitude are written on tags hung on The Gratitude Tree outside the Northfield Public Library in 2021. I love this idea. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2021)

BEFORE I HEAD in to bilateral strabismus eye surgery this week and then recovery and healing, I want to take a moment to thank you, my dear family of blog readers. Thank you for your care, kindness, compassion and prayers. I’ve read all in your thoughtful messages. Mostly, I feel your love and support in my heart. You represent all that is good in this world. I am grateful.

An especially bright spot in the heart of downtown Faribault is the Second Street Garden, a pocket garden with positive messages. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo August 2019)

I expect to be absent from writing and photography and, unfortunately, reading, while my eyes heal. Any blog posts you read this coming week were written pre-surgery and scheduled to publish. I’ll take this one day at a time and update you on surgery when I am able.

Love this LOVE mural in the heart of historic downtown Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2020)

In the meantime, continue to shine your kindness and love into your neighborhoods, your communities, and into this big wide world. I firmly believe we each hold the power to uplift one another, to be that person who puts others before self, who chooses to build up rather than tear down, who exudes a spirit of hope and positivity. Onward, dear friends, onward.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Seeing one, then two, then one, then two January 17, 2024

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My current eyeglasses atop info about bilateral strabismus eye surgery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2023)

THE EYES HAVE IT. Until they don’t.

Next week I undergo bilateral strabismus eye surgery at M Health Fairview Clinics and Surgery Center in Minneapolis. Basically, I’m having surgery to align my misaligned eyes. The neuro ophthalmologist will cut into the white of my eyes and then the muscles, tightening them into alignment using adjustable sutures. That’s the plan. Randy has advised me not to watch any online videos. I have no intention of doing so. Reading about this surgery is more than enough for me.

If you look closely at this image, you can see the patch covering my left eye. This 1960 photo of my mom, sister Lanae and brother Doug was taken on a rare family vacation to the North Shore near Duluth, Minnesota. (Photo sourced from my personal photo album)

The thing is, I’ve had this surgery before. Sixty-three years ago. I was just four, cross-eyed and needing medical intervention to correct my vision. Patching my lazy eye didn’t work. So my parents took me to a specialist in New Ulm 60 miles away from our southwestern Minnesota farm. Eventually, ophthalmologist Dr. Theodore Fritsche would do corrective eye surgery at Union Hospital. I will always be grateful to this surgeon and to my parents for recognizing I needed help or I likely would have gone blind in one eye.

I remember little about that long ago surgery except drinking tomato juice at the hospital and looking at books. The books I understand. But tomato juice? I like it now, but didn’t as a preschooler. I also remember getting orange circus peanut candy as a treat from the dime-store following my numerous appointments. I’ve blocked any other memories.

Fast forward to today and how I got here, on the brink of another corrective eye surgery.

As my neuro ophthalmologist explains, my eye muscles loosened through the decades, shifting my eyes into misalignment. My brain was compensating for the most part until I experienced neurological issues following a January 2023 viral infection suspected to be COVID. (I self-tested negative twice.) The niggles of double vision which had bothered me for a few years, mostly in the evening when I was tired, worsened. COVID messed up my brain function and communication between the brain and my eyes was misfiring. In the past year, it’s become increasingly difficult to only see one, even with prisms in my prescription lenses. Trying to see only one taxes, exhausts, me. Sometimes I can’t read. Sometimes I close one eye simply to eliminate the double vision. It is getting to be too much.

My green eyes up close pre double vision. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Once I completed 5 ½ months of vestibular rehab therapy to retrain my brain and help me deal with the devastating affects of long haul COVID, I was ready to see a professional about my double vision. I started locally. I went into an August ophthalmology appointment optimistically thinking I could simply get a new pair of prescription eyeglasses with more prisms added. Not so. As the ophthalmologist held up prism after prism to my eyes, it became clear nothing in his trays of prisms would effectively improve my vision. I was, he said, beyond his realm of expertise and would need to see a specialist.

After a several-month wait, I saw the neuro ophthalmologist at M Health Fairview in late October. Following 2 ½ hours of exhaustive testing, of looking through prisms and layers of prisms, I understood that I was well beyond the corrective lenses with prisms option. I would need surgery.

A childhood photo of me taken at an optometrist’s office in Redwood Falls. (Photo sourced from my personal photo album)

So here I am after another long wait—three months this time—on the cusp of bilateral strabismus eye surgery. I just want to be done. I am hopeful this outpatient surgery will fix my eyes and eliminate my double vision. Am I scared? Yes. The idea of undergoing general anesthesia and having a surgeon cut into my eyes and eye muscles is frightening. If only I could zoom back in time to my 4-year-old self who remembers nothing but books, tomato juice and circus peanut candy.

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FYI: If I’m absent from blogging for a while, it’s because I’m resting my eyes, recovering from surgery. I’ll be back, hopefully no longer seeing double.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Winter, “real” winter, settles into Minnesota January 16, 2024

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
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A winter scene photographed from Interstate 35 north of Faribault in 2019. Today’s landscape looks similar. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2019)

“THERE, I LOCKED the cold outside,” he said upon securing the kitchen door before bedtime. My husband possesses a unique sense of humor. And on a brutally cold January evening with wind chills plummeting into the minus 30-degree range, humor is welcome, perhaps even necessary.

Fresh snow blown by strong winds created blizzard conditions in rural areas of Minnesota over the weekend, similar to this photographed in Rice County in January 2020. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo January 2020)

This is the winter some Minnesotans have awaited in a winter that has proven primarily warm and snow-less up until now. Then winter roared into Minnesota last weekend with blizzard warnings in the western part of the state, winter weather advisories and warnings elsewhere, and a much-touted snow event that didn’t quite deliver in my area. Strong winds and sub-zero temps followed.

I use these shovels to clear snow from the driveway and sidewalk. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo December 2021)

I felt thankful for the minimal snowfall of some four inches since I am currently the resident snow remover, a task typically handled by Randy. He is on physical restrictions for five weeks following a surgical excision on his lower back. So, by default, I must shovel snow.

Randy blows snow with our aged snowblower following a 2019 winter storm. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo February 2019)

“I should have taught you how to use the snowblower,” Randy said as I slipped on a parka, boots, warm stocking cap and mittens (with hand warmers tucked inside), and wrapped a scarf across my face. I laughed. Our snowblower is massive, aged and not a machine I feel comfortable or capable of handling or maneuvering.

My warm winter boots. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Admittedly, I whined a bit. Not because of the shoveling, but rather the biting cold and bitter wind. As I pushed and tossed snow from the driveway and then the sidewalk, I felt my thumbs numbing. Soon I pulled them next to my fingers, clenching my hands into fists around the hand warmers.

As I worked, I determined I best change my attitude. Right then and there I re-framed my thoughts into one of gratitude that I could physically do this work. Not everyone my age can. Not everyone can due to other limitations. And not everyone has a partner who encourages with humor, even if I don’t always laugh.

Weather warnings like this one have popped up on phones around Minnesota in recent days. This warning was sent to my phone in February 2021. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo February 2021)

Monday morning dawned bright with sun dogs, a temp of minus 10 degrees and a wind chill I didn’t even want to know. I wanted to stay snug inside my warm house. But Randy and I pushed ourselves to get out and drive across town to the Shattuck-St. Mary’s soccer dome for a morning walk. On the way there, Randy noted the crunch of our van tires, a phenomena that happens in subzero temps like this. It’s a sure indication that it’s dang cold outside as are those columns of light flanking the sun.

Pulling into the parking lot, I saw a lot of vehicles. After several days of really cold weather, cabin fever becomes a real feeling. The need to get out and move, just not outdoors, becomes a priority. We looped the soccer field six times, still wearing caps and gloves. It may be warm inside the dome, but not that warm.

I usually drink coffee in my Minnesota Moments mug. I freelanced for this magazine, no longer in publication. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo January 2018)

Back home, I made coffee, loaded laundry in the wash, did some online tasks and texted friends before moving on to writing. I took a break later to empty the washing machine and carry the basket of clothes from the basement to the living room where I’d strategically positioned drying racks in front of heat vents.

“You’re not going to hang the laundry outside?” Randy joked from his comfy spot on the couch.

“Ha ha, very funny,” I replied. Not even I, a diehard of hanging laundry on the line (sometimes even in January), would attempt to do so when the temp is seven degrees below zero. I would risk instant frostbite while the wet clothes froze stiff in my hands. The brilliant sun shining bright upon the snow could almost fool me into believing, though, that enough solar power shone to sun-dry laundry. Yet, the truth of winter in Minnesota—real winter—is this: A sunshine-filled day can be an illusion. It is the temperature, the wind chill, the crunch of tires on snow, the locking of the door against the cold, which reveals reality.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling