Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

“Dante’s inferno” chili & more in a Minnesota church basement February 18, 2014

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Trinity Lutheran Church, Medford, Minnesota.

Trinity Lutheran Church, Medford, Minnesota.

THE SPICY SCENT OF CHILI wafted up the stairs as I entered the church late Sunday afternoon for Trinity Lutheran, Medford’s, second annual Chili Cook-Off.

A sign directs diners to the church basement.

A sign directs diners to the church basement.

I shed my winter coat, got instructions on the chili sampling process and then headed downstairs to taste, and judge, 30 homemade chilis. Twas a nearly impossible task given the numbers and the home-cooked goodness.

Trinity's basement was packed.

Dining in the church basement.

I’ve found church basement food events to be, with only one exception, superb dining experiences.

Randy and I dined with friends from our church, Trinity Lutheran, Faribault.

Randy and I dined with friends from our church, Trinity Lutheran, Faribault.

Here, in the fellowship of friends, I spooned chili into numbered plastic cups, ate and then attempted to choose my favorites. I had five tickets to cast five votes.

The first 12 of 30 chilies sampled.

The first 12 of 30 chilies sampled.

Some I quickly eliminated as too bland or too salty or too ordinary.

Diners spoon chili into cups.

Diners spoon chili into cups.

I was looking for something savory and different.

So many varieties to taste.

So many varieties to taste.

In one chili I detected a hint of cinnamon.

Crockpots of chili were set up on tables on opposite ends of the basement.

Crockpots of chili were set up on tables on opposite ends of the basement.

Many, as you would expect, tasted of tomato in varying degrees of intensity.

Each diner got five tickets with which to cast votes.

Lines formed to spoon up the chili.

Chocolate overwhelmed one. An attempt, perhaps, to woo the female vote?

Eighteen more chilis to try, including the (green) avocado one in the second row from the bottom.

Eighteen more chilis to try, including the (green) avocado one in the second row from the bottom.

A chili laced with chunks of avocado won my favor, while my husband, seeing the green veggies, wouldn’t even try it. His loss.

Numbered cups were stacked by the appropriately numbered chili.

Numbered cups were stacked by the appropriately numbered chili. Diners placed tickets in the boxes to vote. Kari Yule’s chili, number 17, took the trophy. And, yes, I voted for Kari’s chili, among four others.

Of one chili, number 25, the opinion seemed unanimous. This chili packed some wicked heat, so hot I motioned for Randy to refill my water glass and, after a few gulps, to “please pass the crackers.”

A list of those who made chili.

A list of those who made chili.

Afterward I would find the chili sign-up sheet upstairs in the church narthex with “Dante’s Inferno” on the list.

A trophy and first and second place medals were awarded.

A trophy and first and second place medals were awarded.

In the end, Kari Yule claimed the trophy while Amy Grayson took second and Randy Lemke (with help from niece Brandi) came in third.

A line forms near the church kitchen.

A line forms near the church kitchen.

All were winners in my eyes—especially us 120 diners.

Trinity's youth count the votes.

Trinity’s youth count the votes.

Trinity youth also earned $803 through a free will offering for the 2016 Lutheran Church Missouri Synod National Youth Gathering in New Orleans.

I'm not sure how much, if any, chili little Lauren ate. But she was there with her parents, Pastor Mark Biebighauser and his wife, Joni.

I’m not sure how much, if any, chili little Lauren ate. But she was there with her parents, Pastor Mark Biebighauser and his wife, Joni.

What a great event. If you haven’t attended a chili cook-off or partaken of food in a church basement, do. You’ll find delicious food, good company and, typically, will assist in funding a worthy cause.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Icebreaker February 13, 2014

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An edited photo of Fred's Foods.

An edited photo of Fred’s Foods.

FROM VEHICLE LEVEL, the view of Fred’s Foods in Montgomery, Minnesota, is limited.

Snow pushed from the parking lot forms a street-side barrier.

But for photo purposes, I find this scene visually pleasing—the jolt of red against white, the strong graphic of the building rising above the snow line like a defiant icebreaker charging onward.

Toward spring.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Goin’ quackers during a Minnesota winter February 12, 2014

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THIS COLD AND SNOWY Minnesota winter has many of us natives going a little bonkers.

I am not good at judging size. But this is one big duck.

I am not good at judging size. But this is one big duck.

But at least one Faribault resident is goin’ quackers instead, sculpting a mighty snow duck in the front yard at 417 Second Street Northwest.

Another angle, looking toward Second Street Northwest.

Another angle, looking toward the street.

I spotted the waterfowl a few days ago, when temps reached a high of around zero and the wind was whipping something fierce.

Big duck. Little duck (decoy).

Little duck (decoy). Mighty duck.

Not a great day to pull out the camera. In less than five minutes of shooting, my gloveless fingers were chilled to the bone. Back inside the car, I positioned my hands within a wisp of a heat vent.

Gazing up at one mighty duck.

Gazing up at the mighty duck.

Now you’re going to ask, “Why a duck? And why would anyone do this?”

I nearly missed the rubber ducky atop the snow at the end of the driveway as I hurried toward the car.

I nearly missed the rubber ducky atop the snow at the end of the driveway as I hurried toward the car.

I didn’t knock on the door and inquire. My only thought after shooting about a dozen frames shortly before sunset was to get inside the Chrysler and warm up.

Therefore you get to offer your theories. Go.

FYI: Not that this has anything to do with the duck sculpture. But D3: The Mighty Ducks, a 1996 sports comedy movie, was filmed at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault and at Carleton College in nearby Northfield. NHL player Emerson Eten, who played prep hockey at Shattuck, now skates for the Anaheim Ducks.

UPDATE: After pulling today’s issue of my local newspaper, The Faribault Daily News, from the fresh snow atop my front steps, I settled in with the paper at lunch. There, on page two, were a story and photo about the mighty duck. Kurt Kletter is the artist behind the sculpture, having crafted snow sculptures during the past four winters. Why have I not noticed his leprechaun, dragons and giant stop sign in past years?

Click here to read the story. Mystery solved.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald lives on February 11, 2014

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DECADES AGO WHILE TOURING an open iron ore pit on Minnesota’s Iron Range with my parents and perhaps a sibling or two, I met a sailor. Red. His nickname was attributed to his rust-hued hair and beard.

He was a hulk of a young man, crammed into a seat with me on a school bus that bumped down a rugged road into the bowels of the earth.

I honestly do not remember much about Red except that hair and his job laboring on a ship that sailed Lake Superior. We likely talked about the mammoth trucks in the pit. I told him I would be starting college soon and we exchanged addresses.

That fall of 1974, Red sent a few letters, tucked inside official Great Lakes Carriers’ Association envelopes. I can’t recall the content of that correspondence and I soon forgot about Red as I immersed myself in college life.

The Edmund Fitzgerald stretched more than two football fields long. This photo is among many shown in a presentation by diver Jim Christian.

The Edmund Fitzgerald stretched two football fields long. This photo is among many shown in a presentation by diver Jim Christian at the Rice County Historical Society.

Yet, I never really have forgotten him, because of The Edmund Fitzgerald, the iron ore carrier which sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, during a fierce storm. I’ve often wondered whether Red may have been on board that ship. Not likely. But the slight possibility exists.

This past Sunday, I thought about Red for the first time in decades when I attended a presentation on The Edmund Fitzgerald at the Rice County Historical Society in Faribault. The event coincides with The Merlin Players’ Valentine’s Day opening of the play, Ten November, at the Paradise Center for the Arts.

Christina Schweitz, second from left, says is is "an honor" to perform as one of The Three Sisters in The Merlin Players' play, Ten November.

Christina Schweitz, second from left, says it is “an honor” to perform as one of The Three Sisters in The Merlin Players’ play, Ten November. She is flanked by the other “sisters,” Lisa Quimby, left, and Gail Kaderlik.

Inspired by folk singer Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” the theatrical production is filled with humor and compassion and heartwarming tales, according to performer Lisa Quimby. She was among five musicians—three of them female singers—presenting several songs at Sunday’s museum event. The women represent “The Three Sisters,” a trio of waves, each wave larger than the previous and sometimes cited as a contributing factor to the ship’s sinking.

We were shown a half-hour version of this one-hour documentary for sale at the historical society.

We were shown a shortened version of this PBS documentary available for purchase at the historical society.

Diver Jim Christian gestures as he provides information on the iron ore carrier and theories on why it sank.

Diver Jim Christian gestures as he provides information on the iron ore carrier and theories on what caused The Fitz to sink.

Based on information I gleaned Sunday after watching The Edmund Fitzgerald Investigations—a half-hour PBS documentary by Ric Mixter—and a presentation by Minnesotan Jim Christian, who has been diving for 28 years and has explored The Fitz wreckage, I wonder if anyone will ever truly know the precise cause of this tragedy.

Newspaper clippings about The Fitz were passed among audience members while Jim Christian spoke.

Newspaper clippings about The Fitz were passed among audience members while Jim Christian spoke. The ship was built in 1958.

Twenty-nine men aboard The Edmund Fitzgerald lost their lives in the stormy waters of Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. That is a fact.

Some 26,000 tons of taconite pellets, like these, filled the cargo holds of The Edmund Fitzgerald as it journeyed across Lake Superior on November 9 and 10, 1975.

Some 26,000 tons of taconite pellets, like these, filled the cargo holds of The Edmund Fitzgerald as it journeyed across Lake Superior on November 9 and 10, 1975.

Winds on that fateful day were described as “hurricane” force with a gale warning issued during the time the 729-foot long by 75-foot wide carrier was en route from Superior, Wisconsin, to Detroit, Michigan, with 26,000 tons of taconite pellets. The ship, loaded with 15 percent more than its originally designed maximum carrying capacity, according to Christian, rode low in the water while storm waves rose to 70 feet. Can you imagine?

Around 7:15 p.m. on November 10, The Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared. The wreckage was later discovered 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan, and has been the focus of many dives and investigations since.

The legend lives on, as does that connection many of us have to The Edmund Fitzgerald, whether through song or theatre or diving or letters written decades ago by a sailor named Red.

Another photo from Jim Christian's presentation shows the 729-foot long Edmund Fitzgerald.

Another photo from Jim Christian’s presentation shows the 729-foot long Edmund Fitzgerald.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE THEORIES offered during Sunday’s presentation as contributing to/cause of The Fitz sinking in Lake Superior in the gales of November 1975. Seas then were termed by a skipper as “the worst (he’d experienced) in 44 years on the lake.”

  • Leaking hatch covers caused by failure to tighten each of the 68 clasps on each of the 21 hatch covers.
  • Mesh screens, rather than watertight walls, separated the three cargo holds.
  • An inability to turn the carrier with three “seas” coming at the ship from three directions.
  • “Beat by the lake” during the fierce storm.
  • The Three Sisters theory of wave building upon wave, overtaking the carrier and causing the cargo to shift forward.
  • Flaws in structural design with weakness in the cargo capacity and too much flex in a ship that was ridden “too hard.”
  • Structural failure of the ship, built in 1958 and the largest carrier on Lake Superior for nearly two decades.
  • Pushing the ship too fast, causing The Fitz and its companion traveler, The Arthur M. Anderson (which made it through the storm), to feel the full fury of the storm.
  • Previous damage to the carrier during grounding and collisions with another ship and with lock walls. The keel had been repaired twice and was termed as “loose again” when The Fitz set sail on November 9.
  • Loaded with too much taconite, causing the ship to ride low in Lake Superior.
  • Negligence.

You can choose to believe what you wish. I’d suggest you do your own research.

This fact I know, though: The legend lives on…

The Paradise Center for the Arts marquee advertises the opening of Ten November.

The Paradise Center for the Arts marquee advertises the opening of Ten November.

FYI: To learn more about The Edmund Fitzgerald, click here to read information on the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum website.

Performances of Ten November by The Merlin Players are set for 7:30 p.m. February 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 and for 2 p.m. February 16 at the Paradise Center for the Arts, 321 Central Avenue, Faribault. Click here for more information about this play directed by Eric Parrish, a seasoned director and a professor at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Worthington.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Connecting art & poetry at Crossings & I’m in February 7, 2014

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CONNECTING ART AND POETRY enhances both.

Crossings at Carnegie, housed in a former Carnegie library, is a privately-owned cultural visual and performing arts center in Zumbrota. I love the rural atmosphere with the hardware story and grain elevator just down the street.

Crossings at Carnegie, housed in a former Carnegie library, is a privately-owned cultural, visual and performing arts center in Zumbrota. I love the rural atmosphere with the hardware story and grain elevator just down the street. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2012.

And I am pleased, for the second time, to have my poetry selected for inclusion in an annual poet-artist collaboration at Crossings at Carnegie in Zumbrota.

Lilacs, up close. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

Lilacs, up close. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

A juried artist will create a work of art based on my poem, “Lilacs,” one of 26 poems chosen from among more than 200 submissions for inclusion in Poet Artist Collaboration XIII.

Lucky thirteen. I’ve written poetry long enough, though, to understand that winning has nothing to do with luck, but rather with skill. Writing poetry is hard work. But when you nail a poem, like I did with “Lilacs,” it’s worth every minute anguishing over a word or a line.

“It was exciting to receive the outpouring of exceptional work from so many talented poets for this collaboration,” writes Marie Garvin of Crossings in an email. “Jurists told us they (the poems) were a pleasure to read, and selecting those to be included was a difficult task.”

The poems paired with art will go on display in April, National Poetry Month, at the Zumbrota gallery and gift shop. Poets will read their poems and artists will briefly discuss their artwork during a reception set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10.

Connie, right, and I posed for a photo after a 90-minute presentation in which poets read their poems and artists talked about how their art was inspired by the poem. Note Connie's "Pantry Jewels" painting just above my head to the left. If I could buy this $490 watercolor on aqua board, I would in a snap.

Connie Ludwig, right, and I pose for a photo after a 90-minute presentation in which poets read their poems and artists talked about how their art was inspired by the poem. Note Connie’s “Pantry Jewels” painting just above my head to the left. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2012.

Two years ago, my poem was selected for Poet Artist Collaboration XI. Goodhue artist Connie Ludwig created a watercolor, “Pantry Jewels,” inspired by my poem, “Her Treasure.” (You can read about that by clicking here.)

That earlier poem and “Lilacs” draw on childhood memories from my native southwestern Minnesota, a major influence in my writing.

Plenty of lilacs to gather in the spring.

Plenty of lilacs to gather in the spring. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

This marks the second time “Lilacs” has been recognized. This past summer, judges chose “Lilacs” as a Work of Merit in the 2013 Northwoods Art & Book Festival in Hackensack. Says Northwoods Arts Council Poetry Event Chair, poet and blogger Sue Ready “…we all see your work as creative and poetic that engages the reader.”

Sue is right. I always attempt to connect to the reader, whether through imagery, sensory words, emotions and more. Poetry should be an experience.

You can read “Lilacs” by clicking here.

I am grateful for this latest opportunity to share my poetry. And to have an artist find inspiration in my words and create a work of art pleases me even more.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Riding the waves… February 4, 2014

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Snowmobile photo, edited

…Minnesota style.

Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Up on the rooftop February 3, 2014

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Rooftop snow removal 1

Ho, ho, ho!
There he goes.
Ho, ho, ho!
There he goes.

Rooftop snow removal, scrape
Up on the rooftop
Scrape, throw, scrape.

Rooftop snow removal, throw
Right through the snow with
Good Saint Minnesotan.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Consider the lilies February 2, 2014

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“NO WONDER IT FEELS SO COLD,” my husband said when he returned to the warmth of the house and checked the outdoor air temp this morning. “It’s 16 below.”

An overview of flower art from members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Faribault, Minnesota, displayed in the chancel during weekend worship services.

An overview of flower art from members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Faribault, Minnesota, displayed in the chancel during weekend worship services.

Bundled in our coats, caps and gloves, we trundled outside to the warming Chrysler for the short drive to Trinity Lutheran Church. There we would find a breath of spring—an assortment of flower art—to lift our spirits.

A floral batik by Arlene Rolf graces a wall in the narthex. Inside the sanctuary, my flower photos are showcased on the screens.

A floral batik by professional artist and Trinity member Arlene Rolf graces a wall in the narthex. Inside the sanctuary (left through glass wall), my flower photos are showcased on three screens.

This is precisely what we needed on a morning when Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, indicating six more weeks of winter. Not that we Minnesotans need Phil to show us that. We know our winter will run into mid-March and most certainly longer.

The beautiful and stunning floral quilt art by Kevin Kreger is displayed below a wood carving by noted Faribault artist Ivan Whillock. Kreger coordinated the "Consider the Lilies" floral display at Trinity.

This beautiful and stunning hand-pieced floral quilt art by Kevin Kreger is displayed below a wood carving by noted Faribault artist Ivan Whillock in the sanctuary. This photo is taken looking up from the bottom of the wall hanging.  Kreger, a gifted quilter and musician, coordinated the “Consider the Lilies” floral display.

But for this one hour, we focused on the beauty of flowers, of God’s creation, and the very real promise that God cares for us, just as He does the lilies of the field. “God is in control of our lives,” said the Rev. Warren Schmidt.

Church secretary Jennie Kingland created this lush detailed floral in counted cross stitch.

Church secretary Jennie Kingland created this lush, detailed floral in counted cross stitch.

As Rev. Schmidt’s sermon, “Consider the Lilies,” unfolded, he placed us in the lush setting where Jesus preached his “Sermon on the Mount.”

Flower art buffeted both sides of the chancel, here near the baptismal font and pulpit.

Flower art buffeted both sides of the chancel, here near the baptismal font and pulpit.

Earlier, we’d listened to the gospel lesson, Jesus’ words written in Matthew 6:24-34, including these verses:

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

This same hand-embroidered art, displayed in church, hangs above my bed.

This same hand-embroidered art design, displayed in church, hangs above my bed.

To listen to those reassuring words, to view the beautiful floral art and the bouquets of flowers uplifted me.

"Is there beauty in the cross?" asked the Rev. Warren Schmidt. He emphasized the height, depth, breadth and width of God's love for us, shown in His son's death on the cross so that we might have eternal life.

“Is there beauty in the cross?” asked the Rev. Warren Schmidt. He emphasized the height, depth, breadth and width of God’s love for us, shown in His son’s death on the cross so that we might have eternal life.

I am assured of God’s love and care for me. And, because of Christ’s death on the cross, as the pastor said, we are “the perfection of beauty before God the Father.”

Glorious floral art by Marilyn Borchert.

A snippet of bold floral art by Marilyn Borchert.

How wonderful is that?

birds

From Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

If God cares for the flowers and the birds and the rest of His creation, so surely He values and cares for us.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Memories of my uncle’s service station in Vesta, Minnesota January 31, 2014

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FOR DECADES, MY UNCLE HAROLD RAN the filling station along Minnesota State Highway 19 in Vesta.

The vintage Midland gas pumps purchased by my Uncle Milan at the gas station auction. My brother Brian recently bought the pumps from Milan with plans to restore them.

The vintage Midland gas pumps purchased by my Uncle Milan at the gas station auction. My brother Brian recently bought the pumps from Milan with plans to restore them.

It’s not the gas pumps nor the tires nor the anything vehicle related, really, that imprinted most upon my memory about his gas station.

Rather, it’s the vending machine that dispensed salted peanuts. And the pop machine, which, when pulled opened, rattled with icy cold bottles of 7-Up and Orange Crush and Hires root beer. Rare treat of soda drunk too fast. Burps stinging my nose. And salty peanuts in hand, their paper thin wrappings wafting to the floor.

I remember, too, the step down from the store interior through the tight doorway into the shop which smelled of oil and rubber and grime. The magical place of the hoist. Vehicles seemingly levitated into the air.

Vintage gas cans in my brother's garage.

Vintage gas cans in my brother’s garage.

This, a garage where my uncle and the mechanic I remember, Gary, changed tires and oil, replaced belts, fixed whatever needed fixing.

A gas nozzle from the Midland gas pump.

A gas nozzle from the Midland gas pump.

Outside, they pumped gas at this full service station. Rag pulled from back pocket to wipe the dipstick and check the oil. Wipers slapping against windshield as a squeegee washed away dust from gravel roads and crops and remnants of bugs splattered upon glass.

Memories, too, of boarding the Greyhound here, bound for Minneapolis. Me, a young farm girl with blue floral suitcase tucked inside the bowels of the bus, paper ticket in hand, ascending the steps. Alone. En route to visit my Aunt Rachel and Uncle Bob along Bryant.

When gas was only

The price on the old gas pump: only $1.41.9 a gallon.

Memories, still holding tight all these decades later, years removed from affordable gas and full customer service.

THOSE ARE MY MEMORIES. My uncle’s differ, yet intermingle with mine. Uncle Harold started driving gas truck part-time in the early 1950s for City Service in Vesta, eventually hired on full-time under new ownership in a new location at The Old Log Cabin. More on that later. He figured, Harold says, that delivering bulk gas for the new Midland service station would be better than farming.

My uncle's gas station with the fuel delivery truck parked by The Old Log Cabin. Photo from Envisioning a Century, Vesta, 1900-2000.

My uncle’s gas station, right, with the fuel delivery truck parked out front. Photo from Envisioning a Century, Vesta, 1900-2000.

Oh, the stories he could tell of his years working at, managing and then eventually purchasing the station, renamed Harold’s Service, in 1966. If I had all day to listen.

Tales of rescuing stranded motorists during harsh winters on the prairie. After he sold the station’s tow truck, Harold and crew would use the bulk fuel truck to pull vehicles from ditches and snowdrifts along Highway 19. He recalls upwards of 20 travelers once waiting out a snowstorm at the station. Another time four stranded motorists played poker until closing time, at which time they were dropped off at snow homes in town, houses with empty beds. This, all before the days of snow gates installed to close the highway.

He sold snow tires and changed oil, washed cars in the east stall of the garage, delivered bulk gas and fuel and even fertilizer (for awhile). Pumped gas. Fixed whatever needed fixing. At one time he employed as many as four mechanics.

Open every day until 9 p.m. Open until noon on Sunday.

Was it a better life than farming? For awhile, Harold says. Before gas prices shot up and it took a lot of money to buy a tanker full of gas to operate his business. Good before three other places in town started selling batteries. Good before the fertilizer plant added gas pumps. Good before car washes.

Decades later, Harold accepted a job as maintenance worker for the City of Vesta, leaving his middle son to run the station. When Randy found a job in nearby Marshall several months later, the station closed. That was in 1991.

Today the service station is gone, replaced by another automotive business. The old building that housed the station was moved west of town and remodeled into a second home.

Oh, the stories The Log Cabin, built in 1937 and for decades operated as a “beer joint”, Harold’s moniker, not mine, could tell. “It was a pretty wild place…with drunks and fights,” my uncle remembers. “It was a pretty rough place for awhile.”

He also recalls delivering gas for City Service to the tavern, which had a single pump. There’d never be money for the gas Harold brought. But the guy who delivered beer had no trouble collecting payment.

I’d like to see The Log Cabin again, the place where I accompanied my dad, boarded the Greyhound, later filled my 1976 Mercury Comet with gas.

I’d imagine, too, the beer drinkers who packed the former tavern, crammed into booths in the area where my uncle had his office and front counter. I’d think about that and all those stranded travelers once waiting out a prairie blizzard at Harold’s Service.

BONUS PHOTO:

The gas can in my brother Brian's garage that my siblings and I covet because we attended Wabasso High School. Our mascot was a white Rabbit.

My siblings and I covet this gas can in our brother Brian’s garage because we attended Wabasso High School. Our mascot was a white Rabbit.

Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A glorious respite January 30, 2014

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OH, MY GOSH, people, am I excited.

Sunshine and warm temps defined Minnesota weather on Wednesday.

Sunshine and warm temps defined Minnesota weather on Wednesday.

Look at this photo. No, don’t focus on the ice dams plugging the eave trough.

Rather turn your eyes to those two top icicles and specifically to the water streaming from the left one.

Yes, the temperature here in southeastern Minnesota soared to a balmy 30-ish degrees Wednesday afternoon. That, combined with abundant sunshine, created enough warmth to start the melting process, at least along the roof line of my house.

But mostly, in a January that’s been marked by sub-zero temperatures and windchills in the double digits below zero, as in minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, this one-day respite lifted my spirits. I mean, to step outdoors into the sunshine in a zipped sweatshirt rather than my wool pea coat felt absolutely glorious. Glorious, I tell you.

But this morning it’s back to reality with lower temps and more snow. Gosh, I haven’t shoveled snow since Sunday.

UPDATE, 9:15 a.m.:

Snow has been falling at a steady pace in Faribault for several hours as shown in this image from my neighborhood.

Snow has been falling at a steady pace in Faribault for several hours as shown in this image from my neighborhood. 

Snowplows are out in force this morning as yet more snow has moved into Minnesota, creating a mess out there on the roads. Travel along Interstate 35, and in all of southeastern Minnesota, is tagged as “difficult,” according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation 511 website.

Be careful if you must be out and about today.

Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling