Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Back to the Minnesota prairie for the holidays December 24, 2014

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LAST SATURDAY I WENT “home” for the holidays. Back to my native southwestern Minnesota prairie. Back to see my mom and siblings, in-laws and nieces and nephews. Twenty-nine of us gathered to celebrate. Three were missing.

U.S. Highway 14 curves toward grain bins on the west edge of Sleepy Eye.

U.S. Highway 14 curves toward grain bins on the west edge of Sleepy Eye.

To get there, we journeyed through many a small town, first along Minnesota State Highway 60 and then onto the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway, U.S. Highway 14. Through towns like Elysian and Madison Lake. Past Mankato. Through Nicollet and Courtland and New Ulm. Then on to Sleepy Eye and Springfield.

Entering Lamberton from the east, the Lamberton Stockyards.

Entering Lamberton from the east, the Lamberton Stockyards.

And finally, west of Sanborn Corners, to Lamberton. Past the Gypsy Park and then turn right at the Chicken Pox Factory. Unless you’re in my family, you won’t understand the park and pox bit and I’m not going to explain.

Grain bins, like these in Sleepy Eye, mark the prairie.

Grain bins, like these in Sleepy Eye, mark the prairie.

So many farm sites that have stood here for generations.

So many farm sites have stood here for generations.

There are so many well-kept barns along U.S. Highway 14 between Sleepy Eye and Lamberton.

There are many well-kept barns and farm sites along U.S. Highway 14 between Sleepy Eye and Lamberton.

As we traveled, I studied the land and farm sites, the communities, the details that define the prairie that shaped me.

Someone's rural home on the southwestern Minnesota prairie.

Someone’s rural home on the southwestern Minnesota prairie.

Oh, how I still love this land. It was good to be home, if only for a short while.

Wherever you travel this holiday season, may your journey be safe, your time one of joyful celebration.

Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

 

Home from Boston for the holidays December 20, 2014

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Paperwork

 

FOR ONE MONTH and nine days, the Ticketless Travel Passenger Itinerary has hung on the side of my refrigerator.

His flight departs Boston Logan Airport in Massachusetts at 5:15 p.m. He’s taking the scenic route, flying first to Atlanta before connecting on a flight to Minnesota. He always does the connecting flight thing to save money.

I have not seen him in nearly six months, not since July 7, and I am beyond ecstatic that my son will be home for Christmas.

I miss my boy, although he is not truly a boy, but a towering near 21-year-old in his junior year at Tufts University in Medford, MA. Too far from Minnesota for my liking. But he is happy there, at a college that suits his talents and academic needs, and that is what’s most important.

You get used to it after awhile—their absence. Or at least I tell myself that. I will always miss my children. Always.

At 3:44 p.m. (Minnesota time) on December 18, he texts me:  About to board

Those are the sweetest three words I’ve read in six months.

File photo, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Thursday, 10:41 p.m.:  Just landed

Those are the sweetest two words I’ve read in six months.

Friday, 12:08 a.m.: Home.

One. Sweet. Word.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Feeling at home, wherever you live May 16, 2014

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This colonial style home atop a hill along Wisconsin Highway 21 in Arkdale always catches my eye.

This lovely Colonial style home atop a hill along Wisconsin Highway 21 in Arkdale always catches my eye.

DO YOU PICTURE a dream home in your mind?

There is something sweet and endearing about the simplicity of this country home near Redgranite, Wisconsin. Perhaps it's the porch, the setting...the welcoming style.

There is something sweet and endearing about the simplicity of this country home near Redgranite, Wisconsin. Perhaps it’s the porch, the setting…the unassuming bungalow style.

Or are you living in your dream house?

A sturdy farmhouse near Redgranite, Wisconsin.

A substantial farmhouse east of Redgranite, Wisconsin.

I’ve always wanted to live in a big white two-story farmhouse with a front porch. Rather like the farmhouse where my Uncle Glenn and Aunt Elaine and cousins lived near Echo, Minnesota.

Open front porches, like this one on a home in Redgranite, Wisconsin, encourage neighborliness

Open front porches, like this one on a home in Redgranite, Wisconsin, encourage neighborliness and sitting outside on a beautiful afternoon or evening. Love the curve of the porch roofline and the stone front and steps.

The house, as I remember it, featured lots of dark woodwork with a built in buffet and that coveted porch.

A stunning Cape Cod style home constructed from locally quarried stone near Redgranite, Wisconsin.

A stunning Cape Cod style home constructed from locally quarried stone near Redgranite, Wisconsin.

But then again, I also appreciate the Craftsman and Cape Cod styles of architecture.

A well-kept farmhouse between Redgranite and Omro, Wisconsin, has likely evolved through the years with numerous additions.

A well-kept farmhouse between Redgranite and Omro, Wisconsin, has likely evolved through the years with numerous additions. I appreciate the enclosed porch and the Victorian detailed scrollwork near the roofline.

I’ve always preferred old over new, although sometimes I think living in a modern home would equal fewer maintenance worries.

This cheery yellow house is located along Wisconsin Highway 21 in Redgranite. A welcoming holiday banner still graces the front door three months after Christmas.

This cheery yellow house is located along Wisconsin Highway 21 in Redgranite. Christmas lights and a welcoming holiday banner still grace this home three months after Christmas.

In the end, though, I’ve concluded that no matter where you live, it’s not the walls or design or age or style that truly define a home. It is simply being content where you’re at, with the people you love.

NOTE: These images were taken on a late March trip to eastern Wisconsin when snow still covered the ground. Not any more.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Home for the holidays December 20, 2013

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Shoes

THREE MONTHS HAVE PASSED since these shoes rested on this rug in my kitchen.

Late Wednesday evening my 19-year-old son arrived home from Boston for the holidays and a month-long break from college.

I am one happy mama.

© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

What art reveals June 15, 2013

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An oil painting by P. Willis, purchased Thursday at the Recycled Art Sale, Paradise Center for the Arts, downtown Faribault. The sale continues until 5 p.m. Saturday, June 15. The painting now hangs in my living room.

An oil painting by P. Willis, purchased for $15 on Thursday at the Recycled Art Sale, Paradise Center for the Arts, downtown Faribault. The sale continues until 5 p.m. Saturday, June 15. The painting now hangs in my living room.

AFTER PURCHASING two original paintings at the Recycled Art Sale at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault this week, I started thinking about the art I choose for my home.

Nearly every single piece I’ve purchased second-hand from thrift stores, garage and yard sales, or that annual Recycled Art Sale. I’ve also been gifted with several works of original art.

Why do I buy what I buy?

You tell me. View examples below of art currently displayed in my home and share what you think the pieces reveal about me and/or why I selected them.

Go.

Displayed on a shelf in my dining room, this watering can was purchased at a craft store many years ago. I bought the Minnesota beverage tray at the Rice County Gas & Steam Engines Flea Market on Memorial Day weekend. I like repurposing like this tray as art.

Displayed on a shelf in my dining room, this watering can was purchased at a craft store many years ago. I bought the Minnesota beverage tray at the Rice County Gas & Steam Engines Flea Market on Memorial Day weekend. I often repurpose items like these as art.

I have yet to find a spot for this gladioli oil painting which I bought for $10 at the Recycled Art Sale.

I have yet to find a spot for this gladioli oil painting which I bought for $10 at the Recycled Art Sale.

I removed the folding legs from this TV tray, attached a ribbon and hung it in my dining room. I have several more of these same trays, purchased at a yard sale.

I removed the folding legs from this TV tray, attached a ribbon and hung it in my dining room. I have several more of these same trays, purchased at a yard sale.

Here's the setting where the fruit tray hangs, next to a vintage family dresser which my husband refinished many years ago. The items on the dresser, with the exception of the candle holder, were purchased at the Faribault Salvation Army (teapot) and at a flea market (wooden box).

Here’s the setting where the fruit tray hangs, next to a vintage family dresser which my husband refinished many years ago. The items on the dresser, with the exception of the candle holder, were purchased at the Faribault Salvation Army (creamer) and at a flea market (wooden box). The embroidered runner came from a garage sale. This is in a corner of my dining room.

Another TV tray, repurposed as art, sits atop the entertainment center in my living room along with dried hydrangea from a bush outside my front door.

Another TV tray, purchased at a garage sale and repurposed as art, sits atop the entertainment center in my living room along with dried hydrangea from bushes outside my front door.

Inside one of the cubbies in the entertainment center, I arranged these books, purchased at an annual used book sale and Faribault, and this alarm clock, bought at the Faribault Salvation Army.

Inside one of the cubbies in the entertainment center, I arranged these books, purchased at an annual used book sale in Faribault, and this alarm clock, bought at the Faribault Salvation Army for a few bucks.

One of my all-time favorite finds is this oblong mirror (only a portion shown here because mirrors are challenging to photograph without getting yourself in the pic)

One of my all-time favorite finds is this oblong mirror (only a portion shown here because mirrors are challenging to photograph without getting yourself in the pic) bought for 50 cents at a garage sale years ago. It hangs in a hallway, reflecting light.

In the guest bedroom, I created this floral scene atop a dresser. The floral print came from a garage sale, bought for under $1. I seldom spend much on any art I buy. The hydrangea are from my frontyard bush and the vase from flowers I once received.

In the guest bedroom, I created this floral scene atop a dresser. The floral print was purchased for less than $1 at a garage sale. I seldom spend much on any art I buy. The hydrangea are from my frontyard bush and the vase from flowers I once received.

© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Traveling back home to the southwestern Minnesota prairie September 5, 2011

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The land and sky stretch out before us as we drive along Minnesota Highway 67 between Morgan and Redwood Falls in southwestern Minnesota at sunset Friday.

MY HUSBAND, SON and I traveled this weekend to my hometown of Vesta in southwestern Minnesota, the place that inspired the name for this blog, Minnesota Prairie Roots.

My roots run deep into this land, into the soil of Redwood County where I grew up on a dairy and crop farm. Although I left the farm 38 years ago at age 17, the fall after graduating from Wabasso High School, I still consider this home. It is the place that shaped who I became as a person and a writer.

It is the land that still inspires me in my writing and my photography.

Most Minnesotans don’t give this area of the state a second thought. In fact, I have discovered in my nearly 30 years of residing in Faribault, in southeastern Minnesota, that many residents of my community don’t know what lies west of Mankato. They think the state ends there.

That frustrates me to no end. In trying to explain the location of  Vesta, I typically say “half way between Redwood Falls and Marshall on Highway 19.” Usually I get a blank stare. What more can I say?

The sign that marks my hometown, population around 350 and home of the nation's first electric co-op.

They consider my hometown in the middle of nowhere. I don’t disagree with that. But I like the middle of nowhere. The prairie possesses a beauty unlike any other. The wind. The sky. The acres and acres of cropland punctuated by farm places and small towns appeal to me. They quiet my soul, uplift my spirit, connect to me in a way that I can’t explain.

This trip we were driving west in the evening, into the sunset. The ribbon of roadway between Morgan and Redwood Falls stretched into seeming infinity under a sky banded by clouds.

The sun sets as we travel along Minnesota Highway 67 northwest of Morgan toward Redwood Falls.

This stretch of highway between Morgan and Redwood Falls seems to go on forever, as do the utility poles.

It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

What more can I say? I love my southwestern Minnesota prairie, the place that will always be my home, no matter where I live.

I prefer grain bins to skyscrapers. I shot this image as we traveled northwest of Morgan at sunset Friday.

My son told me I take a picture of this grain elevator complex every time we drive through Morgan. He is probably right. But I don't care. I see something different each time, each season, in which I photograph it.

My second shot of the elevator in Morgan, taken from the car while driving back to Faribault Sunday afternoon.

This trip I seemed to focus my camera on utility poles, which go on and on across the flat expanse of the prairie. I find a certain artistic appeal in this scene southeast of Morgan.

Soybean fields, pictured here, and corn fields define this rich farm land.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Back in Faribault, Minnesota, from Japan March 23, 2011

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FIVE DAYS HAD PASSED since a young Faribault woman posted on her blog from earthquake and tsunami stricken Japan.

And now I know why. She was on her way back from Fukushima to Minnesota for her brother’s wedding.

Haidee, a Christian outreach worker and English teacher, has been safely reunited with her family at their rural Faribault home.

But her decision to leave Japan did not come without struggle. Read Haidee’s insightful post by clicking here. She reveals, in a March 22 post, the emotional turmoil she experienced, being torn between wanting to stay in Japan and returning to the United States.

Her words are honest, poignant and touching. They also point to an unshakable faith and an undisputed belief that God directed her onto the path that would take her to the airport and then back to Minnesota.

God, clearly, was watching over and guiding her on this journey.

A snippet of Jesus' face in a stained glass window at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault, where Haidee's father serves as the pastor. I'm certain that many times since the disaster in the Pacific, Haidee has been especially cognizant of God watching over her.

SHOULD I HAVE the opportunity to speak with Haidee, I’ll share that information with you. Click here to read my first post about Haidee, shortly after the disaster devastated Japan.

 

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

An unexpected guest tours my Faribault home April 9, 2010

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WOULDN’T YOU KNOW, on the day the beds are unmade, because I’m washing sheets; dirty dishes are stacked on the counter; dried fern leaves litter the carpet; Minnesota Moments magazine proofs are strewn across the dining room table; and cardboard still covers a hole in the wall (has for six months), I get an unexpected guest.

And it’s 100 percent my fault.

If I wasn’t the curious person that I am, this man never would have set foot inside my unkempt house.

But I had to go and stick my nose (my whole being really) out the front door (onto the sidewalk really), literally.

I can’t help myself. As I’m working at my computer, I notice him loitering in front of my house with his fancy, schmancy camera. He’s taking photos. But of what? There is nothing I can envision that is worthy of a photograph.

This deserves investigation. But by the time I find my shoes, pull open the door and run down the steps, he is already walking away.

“Sir, sir,” I yell, feeling a bit foolish about the formality of my words. But since he is a stranger, I figure politeness is my best approach.

“I’m curious,” I say. “What are you taking pictures of?”

He is in town, visiting from Alaska, and once lived in the neighborhood, he tells me.

“Oh, I live down there,” I say, pointing to my house, the green house, on the corner.

“504?” he asks.

Yup, that would be it, my home for the past 25 ½ years.

“I grew up there,” he says.

I decide then and there that I’m going to invite him inside.

He is pleased as punch.

“I’m Audrey,” I say.

He’s Randy.

Once inside, I give him the tour and he can’t get over how bright the interior is with all of the paneling gone. He helped his dad nail the hideous 70s décor in place, he says.

And while we talk, he snaps the occasional picture while I apologize and try to tidy up my home. I can just imagine Randy showing these photos to his family.

They’ll likely think, maybe even say, “Oh, she sure has a messy house.”

Yeah, well at least it’s light and airy and stripped of all that dark, dark paneling.

Thankfully for me, my unexpected guest seems not to care. I fill him in, room-by-room, on the changes we’ve made: new sheetrock, new carpet, new windows, new insulation, new furnace, even a new toilet.

But not a new kitchen sink. It’s still the same hideous brown of his youth.

Oh, yeah, and Randy notices the “new” tree. Yeah, the one that we planted 23 years ago and which he passes coming and going via my backyard, after he’s thanked me profusely for allowing him inside his childhood home.

It was my pleasure, Randy, and you’re welcome back to reminisce any day. Just call ahead next time.

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling