Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

A Groundhog Day snowstorm socks Minnesota February 3, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , , ,
A City of Faribault truck plows snow on the street past my house Tuesday afternoon.

A City of Faribault truck plows snow on the street past my house Tuesday afternoon.

MINNESOTA HUNKERED DOWN on Groundhog Day during the first major winter storm of the season.

In the southwestern corner, nearer the Iowa and South Dakota borders, Interstate 90 closed as did all state highways south of U.S. Highway 14 due to white-out conditions. I grew up in that prairie area and fully appreciate the power and dangers of a blizzard.

In my county of Rice, we received about eight inches of snow—according to the husband’s snow-clearing estimates—by early evening. Randy reported icy, snow-compacted lanes and drifting snow on Minnesota State Highway 3, his route home from work in Northfield.

For Minnesota kids, Tuesday was a day off from classes. Many schools announced closings already Monday evening in anticipation of the storm.

Some businesses closed early. Activities were canceled. There was no bingo at the Eagles in Faribault, no euchre at the Morristown Legion, no LeSueur County Cattlemen’s annual meeting.

This morning we resume the task of clearing away snow.

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

More than just an aged pick-up truck January 29, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
A GMC 150 parked in historic downtown Faribault.

A GMC 150 parked in a city lot in historic downtown Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo July 2015.

GROWING UP ON A FARM, I never truly appreciated pick-up trucks. They were simply a part of farm life—the workhorse of the farmer.

The truck needs a lot of work, but it has potential.

The truck needs a lot of work, but it has potential. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo July 2015.

In the bed of his red and white Chevy pick-up, my dad tossed fence posts, seedcorn bags, chains, shovels, and a myriad of other agricultural essentials. He may even have transported an animal or two.

I recall flying along gravel roads in the front seat of the pick-up, and sometimes in the bed, dust trailing a cloud across the prairie. Other times Dad would bump his truck across the stubbled alfalfa field.

Every time I spot an aged pick-up truck, I covet it. Not because I necessarily desire ownership. Rather, it’s about reliving, and holding onto, those rural memories.

© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Faribault’s all-American snowman January 26, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , ,

Divison Street snowman, 14 with house

 

IN THE YARD OF A CUTE craftsman style house at a busy intersection in Faribault, a patriotic snowman greets passersby. I pass by this sunny yellow home often. On my way to and from church. On my way to and from Minnesota State Highway 60.

 

Division Street snowman, 17 semi close

 

I don’t know who lives at 402 Division Street. But I appreciate the creativity of this snowman. Red and blue votive candles for buttons. American flags for arms. An American flag banner cinched around the snowman’s waist.

 

Division Street snowman, 19, close-up two

 

Even red and blue dye for lips.

This isn’t your average snowman or snowwoman, whichever it may be.

#

Tell me about any creative snow people you’ve seen, even built.

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Snowmen, then & now January 25, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , ,
The Hoisington family's 2016 snowman.

The Hoisington family’s 2016 snowman.

FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, I’ve photographed the over-sized snowmen sculpted in the Hoisington family’s yard in the heart of Faribault at 18 Third Avenue Northwest.

 

Snowman, 11 head close-up

 

This year I braved double digit below zero windchills on a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon to document a sculpture that brings me joy.

 

Snowman, 10 close-up

 

A snowman hearkens to carefree days of childhood, when I actually loved winter. It brings memories of laboring with my siblings to roll snow into monumental balls. Three snowballs stacked atop each other to build our version of Frosty.

Snowmen and snow days. Snowdrifts hard as granite. Snow bucked into piles by Dad behind the John Deere tractor and loader. Imaginary mountains upon which we raced as Canadian Mounties.

Boots crunching on snow, the sharp sound slicing the quiet of the Minnesota prairie. Noses dripping. Cheeks flaming red. Fingers numbing through too thin gloves.

These are my winter memories, elicited by photographing a snowman.

What are yours?

FYI: Click here to view last year’s snowman pix. And click here to see my photos from 2014.

Check back tomorrow to see another notable snowman gracing a Faribault yard just blocks from the Hoisington snowman.

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Christmas tree eating goats to debut at River Bend January 22, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

WHEN I FIRST READ about goats eating Christmas trees, I was skeptical. But then I watched a video on Goat Dispatch and saw for myself goats devouring these sharp-needled evergreens.

This Sunday afternoon, January 24, River Bend Nature Center in Faribault will feature the Christmas tree eating goats at Winterfest. The event runs from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Randy unloads our Christmas tree.

Randy unloads our Christmas tree.

Last Sunday afternoon, on one of Minnesota’s coldest winter days thus far this season, my husband and I headed across town to River Bend. The parking lot was empty as we unlatched our Charlie Brown tree from the roof of the van and Randy pulled it onto a pile of discarded holiday trees.

I photographed these goats grazing in a pasture near Northfield in August 2015. They are not a part of Goat Dispatch.

I photographed these goats grazing in a pasture near Northfield in August 2015. They are not a part of Goat Dispatch.

I remember as a child reading that goats will eat tin cans. I may have gotten that idea from The Three Billy Goats Gruff, a favorite childhood fable. Myth or truth? Probably truth.

Goats graze on buckthorn at River Bend Nature Center, Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo October 2014.

Goats graze on buckthorn at River Bend Nature Center, Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo October 2014.

Goat Dispatch, a rural Faribault business that rents out goats for land management/brush removal grazing, states online that goats have narrow strong mouths. I would expect that given Goat Dispatch goats have attacked invasive buckthorn at River Bend. I’m quite familiar with the sharp thorns of buckthorn.

This sign was posted on a fence enclosing Goat Dispatch goats at River Bend. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo October 2014.

This sign was posted on a fence enclosing Goat Dispatch goats at River Bend. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo October 2014.

And I personally know Goat Dispatch owners Jake and Amanda Langeslag. This young couple is about as down-to-earth friendly and honest as they come. They are passionate about the environment and their goats and their business. If they say goats eat Christmas trees—and they show that in a video—I believe them.

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Delighting in ice cream shops, yes, even in winter January 21, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Dairy Delite in Lakeville, photographed on a frigid Saturday afternoon.

Dairy Delite in Lakeville, photographed on a frigid Saturday afternoon in January.

IF I WAS TO CONDUCT a survey on Minnesotans’ consumption of ice cream, I expect the numbers would plummet in months like January and soar during the hot days of July. Makes sense considering the temperature.

My desire for ice cream drops considerably in winter. I’m cold enough without feeding more cold into my body. But not always.

Just the other night I craved not ice cream, but fro yo. I remember when my eldest daughter first mentioned fro yo probably five-plus years ago. The frozen treat was just trending in southern Minnesota. I had no idea what she was talking about. Eventually fro yo reached Faribault with the opening of Berry Blast in 2013. The business recently closed. I never got there.

In Faribault, Dairy Queen reigns with two shops within a short distance of one another. I like Dairy Queen. But if I get a treat there once a year, that’s about it. And then it’s only if I have a coupon to discount the high prices.

I’ve never been a chain restaurant fan. I much prefer locally-grown businesses with character, uniqueness and charm. Like the Dairy Delite, recently photographed in Lakeville. It’s closed for the season, has been since October, and will reopen in April.

I wish we had a quaint stand-alone nostalgic ice cream place like Dairy Delite in Faribault. Visitors look for such signature sites to purchase treats in the heat of a humid summer day. Locals appreciate these mom-and-pop ice cream shops, too. Here’s a thought—combine an ice cream place with promotion of the Tilt-A-Whirl, an Americana amusement ride which originated in Faribault. Just dreamin’ here in the midst of winter…

Tell me about your favorite original ice cream shop.

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A snippet view of historic Faribault from the viaduct January 5, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , , ,
The Minnesota Highway 60 viaduct stretches before me, looking to the west toward the heart of Faribault.

The Minnesota Highway 60 viaduct stretches before me, looking to the west toward the heart of Faribault.

EVERY TIME I VIEW Faribault from the Minnesota Highway 60 viaduct, I am mesmerized by this community I’ve called home for 32 years.

Before me, historic Faribault lies:

Old houses constructed of wood, brick and limestone populate residential areas near downtown.

Old houses constructed of wood, brick and limestone populate residential areas near downtown.

aged wood frame houses jutting from hillsides,

Carriage

Carriage House Liquors is an example, according to the Faribault Heritage Preservation Commission website, “one of Faribault’s best-preserved stone industrial structures.” Buggies, carriages, wagons and bobsleds were manufactured in this historic building, which later also served as a blacksmith shop.

solid brick and stone buildings anchored downtown,

Steeples of First English Lutheran Church and

Steeples of First English Lutheran Church and Congregational Church of Faribault, UCC, are seen in the background of this image.

church steeples poking the skyline,

library

Buckham Memorial Library, dedicated in 1930 in memory of Faribault lawyer and judge Thomas Buckham by his widow, Anna, sits to the left in this photo. A clock tower landmarks the building. Inside are beautiful stained glass windows designed by Charles Connick.

a signature clock tower marking the Kasota stone library.

Another snippet view of downtown from the viaduct.

Another snippet view of downtown Faribault from the viaduct.

This is a beautiful city of rivers and woods, hills and flatland. It is a place where the past is appreciated, where aged buildings still stand. Strong. Strong in history. Rooted in the past, but growing in the present.

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Walking through snowy woods on a Sunday afternoon January 4, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , , ,

THE WEATHERMAN PROMISED mostly sunny skies Sunday in southern Minnesota. But predictions and reality don’t always match. Rather than sunshine here in Faribault, grey skies prevailed, matching my mood.

 

Nature Center, 2 Randy walking

 

I needed a walk in the woods, an escape. Time to envelope myself in nothing but nature, in the muffled quiet of traversing a snow-covered trail winding through River Bend Nature Center.

 

Nature Center, 6 trees

 

There is something about trudging through snow, about pausing to study the bark of a naked tree, about tipping your head upward toward the sky, even if it is grey, that temporarily nudges away heartache.

 

Nature Center, 5 cross country skiers

 

Nature Center, 11 single cross country skier

 

Nature Center, 25 skiing uphill

 

So I walked with my husband through the sparse landscape of black-and-white. Sparse words. Silence in between. A Robert Frost poem. Only the sporadic cross country skier interrupted our solitude.

 

Nature Center, 30 woodpecker

 

Nature Center, 8 green birdhouse

 

Nature Center, 17 walking across icy parking lot

 

Occasionally I stopped to snapshot a scene. When my fingertips ached with cold from photographing birds in 27 degrees, I wove across the patchy ice of the parking lot to our Chevy.

Nature Center, 42 license plate

 

There I photographed my final nature scene on a license plate.

 

Nature Center, 15 River Bend van

 

Then our car wound back through River Bend, past snowy woods and a frozen pond, past the razor wire fence and grounds of the Minnesota Correctional Facility, Faribault (which sits right next to the Nature Center), back to reality. Still shrouded by grey skies.

BONUS PHOTOS:

Walking the dogs.

Walking the dogs.

A tag at the base of a tree.

A tag at the base of a tree.

A sign in the woods explains an effort to rid River Bend of invasive buckthorn by utilizing goats to eat the invasive tree.

A sign in the woods explains an effort to rid River Bend of buckthorn by utilizing goats to eat the invasive tree.

Goats from Goat Dispatch will also consume these Christmas trees which area residents are invited to drop off at River Bend.

Goats from Goat Dispatch will also consume these Christmas trees and wreaths dropped off by area residents. The goats will be on-site during River Bend’s January 24 WinterFest.

© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Lighting up the holidays in rural Faribault December 28, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

WHEN OUR KIDS were little, we made it a late December tradition to drive around Faribault viewing residential holiday light displays. It is a lovely, cherished family memory that connects to my childhood. Each December, my parents, five siblings and I packed into our Chevy and twisted through the Tangle Town neighborhood of Redwood Falls to see the lights.

Fast forward to 2015. My three kids are now adults, two of whom live out of state. Only one was home on Christmas Day. Three evenings before Christmas, my husband slid behind the wheel of our Chevy. I buckled into the front passenger seat. And the college son folded into the backseat. We were on our way to view a rural holiday light display about two miles east of Faribault.

 

Holiday lights, 6 trees and stars

 

Pulling into the driveway at Cathy Hoban and Pat Spence’s place, a sign advised us to tune into 103.1 FM and to turn on our parking lights. Before us, lights flashed as the magic unfolded.

 

Holiday lights, 15 1939 Ford pick-up truck

 

From towering Christmas trees to stars, Santa, snowmen, reindeer, candy canes, a Nativity and even a light-bedecked 1939 Ford pick-up truck, this dazzling music-synchronized show is wondrous.

 

Holiday lights, 17 circling the driveway

 

Randy crept the Chevy along at a snail’s pace, then stopped so we could take it all in. I stepped outside the car to snapshot the scene, hoping for a few good frames. He followed the circle drive then retraced his route.

 

Holiday lights, 14 star atop tree

 

We were mostly silent as we watched and listened, delighting in this gift from Cathy and Pat to the Faribault community. The couple loves Christmas. And it shows in the strings and strings and strings of colorful lights, in the effort it takes to put this all together, in the creativity and music.

 

Holiday lights, 21 reindeer

 

I couldn’t help but smile and feel propelled into the Christmas spirit while touring here. And I felt, too, the connection between past and present, in memories remembered and those being formed.

 

Holiday lights, 9 Nativity

 

How about you, do you drive around your community, or elsewhere, to view holiday light displays?

FYI: Cathy and Pat’s holiday light show is open from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. daily through the holidays. However, because of warm temps, which led to a muddy driveway, the display closed some evenings. That shouldn’t be a problem this week. The address: 4531 197th Street East, Faribaut.

© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Thoughts from Faribault in the week before Christmas December 19, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
Tags: , , , , , ,
Historic buildings in downtown Faribault are decorated for the holiday season.

Historic buildings in downtown Faribault are decorated for the holiday season.

MY COMMUNITY OF FARIBAULT offers an array of holiday events ranging from theatrical productions to a holiday figure skating show, concerts and more. Each year I try to take in some of those activities not only because I enjoy them, but because it’s important to pause in the busyness of the season. We can get so wrapped up in gifts and decorations, baking and other holiday stuff that stress, rather than joy, dominates our days.

This rendition of Linus, on loan from the Faribault Woolen Mill, stood in the lobby of the Paradise Center for the Arts during the recent holiday play.

This rendition of Linus, on loan from the Faribault Woolen Mill, stood in the lobby of the Paradise Center for the Arts during the recent holiday play.

Months ago, upon learning that the Paradise Community Theatre was performing Twice the Cheer: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and A Charlie Brown Christmas in a single showing, I purchased four tickets to a Sunday matinee performance. I invited my eldest daughter and her husband to join my husband and me. Twenty-four years ago, Amber and her little sister played Baby Angels in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at our church, Trinity Lutheran in Faribault. Thus, this play means something to our family.

The Paradise version wasn’t exactly like the one produced at my church. It was updated with the main characters, a family of unruly and outcast children, modernized. It worked. They were believable and memorable.

Yet, for me, the most memorable line in the play (and I can’t recall who said it) referenced Mary and Joseph as refugees. I’d never thought of them in that way and it seems particularly fitting given the world today. There are times in life when we all feel somewhat displaced, whether by circumstances or challenges or an actual physical move. Sometimes life is just plain hard.

Skaters pose for photos after presenting The Chronicles of Narnia.

Skaters pose for photos after presenting The Chronicles of Narnia.

Which is precisely why it’s helpful to occasionally escape into a make-believe world. And that I did during the recent holiday figure skating show at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault. The annual December performance is a free gift to the community. This year students presented their version of The Chronicles of Narnia. I’ve never read the fantasy book series nor seen the movie, which left me clueless. Still, I could admire the young women gliding across the ice, twirling and skating with the carefree abandon of youth.

Beauty in the details of a holiday themed outdoor arrangement in downtown Faribault outside Bluebird Cakery.

Beauty in the details of a holiday themed outdoor arrangement outside Bluebird Cakery in downtown Faribault.

In these final days before Christmas, I hope you take the time to slow down, to savor the moments, to appreciate the people around you, to do something thoughtful for a “refugee” (someone in need) in your community.

Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

 

 

 

© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling