Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Scenes along Interstate 94 driving toward Fargo February 27, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:49 AM
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The coal-fired power plant by Becker as seen from Interstate 94.

IN COUNTRY THAT’S primarily flat and open, you notice the details—the shape and height of clouds, the tint of the soil, the sharp angles of buildings, towers that break the monotony of horizontal lines and so much more.

At least I notice these things. Maybe you don’t.

Join me today on one final trek along Interstate 94 as we travel northwest toward Fargo, North Dakota. Begin to see, like me, man’s imprint upon the land.

I am neither endorsing nor criticizing the content of these images. I am simply showing you examples of what I noticed along that drive, beginning near Monticello, Minnesota. I’ve already shown you the skyscapes and the farm sites in previous posts.

These photos represent subjects that don’t fit into a single, well-defined category. They are, if anything, simply scenes that unfold upon the stage of this land, this wide, wide land.

I'd love to know the history behind this house in the Avon area.

You just don't see old corn cribs like this in use much anymore. Something about them so appeals to me visually.

Deep in the heart of dairy country, I spotted this vet clinic sign by Freeport.

Freeport, "The city with a smile!" is marked by this old-fashioned smiling water tower.

Drive I-94 and you'll see endless towers like this one where the tower dwarfs an abandoned building to the right.

This country is rural through and through. This may be an ethanol plant although I'm not sure. Anyone know?

I expected to see more trains than I did. These were near the plant in the photo above.

Who knew? A Budweiser plant in Moorhead.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Let’s have some chili February 26, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 2:04 PM
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YESTERDAY THE FARIBO WEST MALL sponsored a first-ever Chili Contest. I posted about this already.

But I have more photos to show you; I didn’t want to cram all of them into a single drawn-out post.

So join me at the mall as we grab some chili.

If you’re entering on the west end of the mall, just follow this sign, posted on the door of KLIK Photography, …

…past the Lucy statue to the crowd way down at the east mall entrance.

After you’ve purchased a plastic spoon for $1, with those proceeds benefiting the Faribault Food Shelf, peruse the 16 chili offerings.

Don’t miss the condiments served by some contestants. However, if you want a true, pure taste of the chili or you are trying to avoid calories, you may want to skip the enticing extras.

But do not skip checking out the table decor like this chili station tended by Hannah Plath serving her dad Jeff Langmeier’s hot chili. I would have awarded this table top prize in decorating.

 As you’re served chili, observe the details like the pepper necklace and devil horns worn by Hannah Plath to emphasize the heat in her dad’s chili. Note the judge (Faribault Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism President Kymn Anderson) with her clipboard.

Keep a watchful eye on the judges (Faribault Mayor John Jasinski, left, and Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn) while they sample Kristen Langmeier’s chili, or any chili for that matter. 

You can tell a lot about a chili by watching the facial expressions of those tasting it. Yes, when I sampled one particular chili, the entrant and his family (Bill Frogge, winner on the celebrity judging), fixed their eyes on me. I willed myself not to flinch at Frogge’s fiery chili.  

Afterward, when they weren’t watching, I sneaked over to the water cooler.

But what the chili contestants don’t know…

Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A Saturday afternoon sampling chili & more at the mall February 25, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:22 PM
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The Faribo West Mall, just off Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highway 60 in Faribault.

FROM FIERY PEPPER HOT to cinnamon sweet to overpowered by tomatoes, chilies served at the Faribo West Mall’s Saturday afternoon Chili Contest offered enough variety to satisfy any taste.

My husband and I paid $1 each for a plastic spoon with which to sample the 16 chilies like those offered by Kristen Langmeier and her daughter Hannah Plath. Serving side by side, Kristen said she was competing against her husband, Jeff. Hannah scooped up her dad’s “very spicy” no-bean chili laced with bacon and grilled steak. Kristen ladled her “regular spicy” chili infused with beer.

Faribault residents Hannah Plath, left, and her mom, Kristen Langmeier, served two types of chili. Entries were judged on taste and presentation by celebrity judges. The dining public simply chose one favorite.

Celebrity judges Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn, left, Faribault Mayor John Jasinski and President of the Faribault Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Kymn Anderson sample the chili.

At another table, a former Texan removed the seeds from the jalapenos to quell the heat in his no-bean chili. He noted that in Texas you don’t add beans to chili.

But there were plenty of beans in the Minnesota chilies along with a variety of meats from ground pork to turkey to chicken, beef and more.

Once we’d tried the chilies, in between watching performances by the Joy of Dance Academy II dancers, Randy and I wandered the mall. That’s exactly what contest organizers hoped—that diners would also explore businesses housed in the shopping center.

Dancers performed outside the mall's main tenant, JC Penney.

Young dancers watch an older, more experienced dancer perform.

I’ll be honest here. I rarely get beyond the mall’s anchor store, JC Penney on the north end, or the Salvation Army on the opposite end.

Everything in between seems mostly a changing landscape of empty space and retail stores that come and go, with a few businesses, like Maurices, that have been around for awhile.

Organizers of the Chili Contest, which benefited the Faribault Food Shelf, were aiming to dispel the belief among locals that “there’s nothing at the mall.” The recent closure of the mall’s movie theater, the only one in Faribault, prompted discussion around town about the mall’s future within the community.

I’m here to report that, yes, the Faribo West Mall definitely has plenty of empty space for tenants. But it also has many businesses, albeit businesses that weren’t particularly busy when we toured at mid-afternoon Saturday.

I was delighted to discover this shop crammed with collectibles. Note: It's not open every day.

I loved the colors in this vintage clock at Terry's shop.

Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a shop like Terry’s Curiosities and Collectables (sic) which has been in the mall for three years (who knew?) and sells everything from clothing to collectibles to sports cards and more. It’s a place I’ll return to.

A snippet of the mall's "Freedom Shrine."

And how could I have failed to notice the “Freedom Shrine” along a mall wall featuring framed copies of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and more? It’s been there since 1983, a year after I moved to town, for gosh sakes.

That’s the problem. All too often we fail to notice and appreciate what we have. So let me show you more of what the Faribo West Mall offers rather than lamenting what it’s missing.

More mall businesses.

Bella's, a cozy shop, sells these vivid shoes, helps with party planning and more.

Reading a newspaper while waiting at the mall barbershop.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Traveling photography February 23, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 9:14 AM
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The clouds, the lighting, the red buildings slung against the sky drew my eyes and camera toward this farm along I-94 in western Minnesota.

I WASN’T ALWAYS a fan of winter photography. Honestly, who likes to navigate snow and ice and freeze your fingers off to shoot images? Not me.

But, since discovering on-the-road travel photography—meaning I actually fire off frames while riding in a vehicle traveling at highway/interstate speeds of 55 – 70 mph—I’ve come to embrace winter photography.

I started clicking my shutter when I saw this picturesque farm in the Avon/Albany area. This is frame two.

By the third frame, this beautiful fieldstone barn came into my sight line.

In winter the landscape lies exposed, giving a photographer ample opportunity to see and photograph subjects which, in other seasons, remain hidden. And I, for one, appreciate that openness and vulnerability.

My eyes fly across the landscape as I ride shotgun, camera in hand set to a fast shutter speed (the sports mode in automatic settings), poised to click the shutter button.

The weathered barn and the lighting around the silos drew me to photograph this scene.

Farm sites, specifically barns, cause me to lift my ever-ready camera from my lap, focus and shoot. Sometimes I get the shot, sometimes I don’t. It’s all in the timing and the ability to compose on the fly.

Consistently, the quality of these on-the-road photos surprises me, in a good way. Often I couldn’t have gotten better results had I stood still in front of the subject, focused and composed with care and shot many frames.

Of course, I’ve missed plenty of photo ops, too, because I’ve been daydreaming or talking or been too slow to react.

I honestly thought I'd missed this shot. But when I saw the results, well, I was pretty pleased.

A recent trip along Interstate 94 to and from Fargo gave me plenty of time to practice on-the-road photography as I focused on farm sites, the landscape and whatever else I found of interest.

An added bonus comes once I download the images into my computer and notice details I failed to see while photographing scenes.

The next time you hit the highway as a passenger on a long road trip, consider trying this type of photography.

Clean your windows, adjust your camera, buckle up and you’re set to roll.

Just one more farm along I-94 that I couldn't resist photographing.

TELL ME, HAVE you ever photographed using this method? What works/doesn’t work for you? And what do you like to photograph?

NOTE: Except to downsize the above images, I have not edited them.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Broken hearts February 22, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:58 AM
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A dorm at NDSU, photographed during my campus visit last Friday.

FOUR YOUNG WOMEN die in a traffic accident along a snowy stretch of Interstate 94 in central Minnesota on Monday afternoon.

The news breaks your heart. How can it not?

Early Tuesday morning I published a post about a recent visit to the campus of North Dakota State University in Fargo, the destination for these women returning after a long holiday weekend.

I knew of the accident when I published the post. But I did not know then the names of the victims or their status as NDSU freshmen.

Jordan Playle, Danielle Renninger, Lauren Peterson and Megan Sample—three of them roommates—all from the Twin Cities metro area, are gone.

Students and staff on the campus I walked just days ago grieve.

Parents and siblings and other family members mourn.

Friends and high school classmates face the very real and tough reality of death.

And those of us parents who have sent our children off to college think about how many times we’ve hugged our kids goodbye, waved to them as they drove away and expected them to arrive, without incident, back at their dorms or apartments.

It is the kind of day when you want to circle your family close around you, wrap them in your arms and tell them how very much you love them.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

On the road to Fargo, where sky meets land February 20, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:07 AM
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Only 192 miles to Fargo, North Dakota. We've already driven 93.

SKY. That single word defines a road trip from Faribault to Fargo.

Don’t talk miles and time to me. Talk sky.

Once past the St. Cloud exit along Interstate 94, you start noticing the sky, how, the farther west you travel, the larger it becomes until the sheer immensity of that above overwhelms that below.

Sky meets land somewhere westbound along Interstate 94 toward Fargo.

For those who live in the confines of the city, where buildings and masses of streets and highways pull the sky downward and ground it, the vastness of the skies can unsettle the spirit and create a sense of vulnerability. You can’t help but feel exposed under brooding clouds and a sky that stretches into a distance without end.

Interstate 94 sometimes seems to run right into the sky as you drive west.

Yet, for me, a prairie native, there’s a certain sense of calm that comes from traveling into the sky. Because that is what you do when driving west from Minnesota toward the Dakotas. You drive into the sky.

After an initial awareness that you really are incredibly small compared to that above, you begin to notice the details. Or at least I begin to appreciate the details—like the hard edge where sky meets land, the ever-changing skyscape as clouds shift and the day wanes, the nuances in colors and texture that define firmament and field.

Power lines set against the backdrop of the sky provide a visual vertical respite for the eyes.

It is as if you’ve brushed yourself right into a landscape painting.

And I can’t get enough of it, of the strong horizontal lines that sweep across my vision, reconnecting me to my prairie past.

The landscape: flat and into forever near Fargo/Moorhead.

The ever-changing clouds blend with the rural landscape.

As the sun sets, the sky broods.

The sharp contrast of black and white against blue pleases my eyes.

Fence lines and farms slice through the land.

A church spire in the distance draws my eye in this place where my soul reconnects to the prairie.

ALL OF THESE IMAGES were taken with my DSLR camera, set at a fast shutter speed, while traveling along Interstate 94. Check back for more posts from this trip to Fargo.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Three bald eagles on a Sunday February 19, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 4:12 PM
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AS OBSERVANT AS I AM, and I’m quite detail-oriented, I don’t profess to have an eagle eye. That would be my husband. Randy possesses an uncanny ability to notice birds of prey in the wild.

A few weeks ago he pointed out an owl perched on a fence post as we traveled along a state highway around dusk. He’s always spotting hawks circling overhead, riding the wind.

See the two eagles in the distant trees here on the west side of State Highway 13 near Waseca?

But this time, this past Sunday afternoon, he saw two bald eagles in a stand of trees several miles north of Waseca along Minnesota State Highway 13. Now typically nothing much raises Randy’s demeanor to a level of excitement. However, he was excited enough to swing our van into a U-turn, backtrack to the grove of trees and pause so he could gawk.

Although we’d seen eagles in the wild before, we’d never seen them this close—about 60 feet away horizontally and another 30 feet away vertically.

Parked along the wide shoulder of the highway, I shot this image of the eagles.

Stopping within feet of a deer carcass, the road kill that we figure drew the eagles to this grove of trees, Randy watched the birds while I photographed, wishing all the time for a telephoto lens.

After our brief eagle-watching, we continued on to Morristown, missed our turn and spotted another bald eagle. This time I requested we backtrack because I was, by then, already formulating this blog post in my mind.

We had just passed Veterans Memorial Park, a new memorial to veterans in this Rice County town of 1,000 residents. It features a bald eagle as the focal point.

This time, without highway traffic passing dangerously close, I exited the van and captured close up our nation’s majestic symbol of freedom.

The bald eagle, flanked by flags, at the vets park in Morristown.

A broad view of the new memorial, which includes pavers honoring veterans.

Shooting into the sun, I took this shot of the memorial eagle.

HAVE YOU EVER seen a bald eagle in the wild? Tell me about your experience.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Ice art in rural Minnesota February 16, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:52 AM
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CAN YOU IMAGINE how impressed I would be if ever I viewed the Saint Paul Winter Carnival snow and ice sculptures?

Up until Sunday, the only ice sculptures familiar to me clung to milkhouse and house rooflines or clumped like frozen waterfalls along bluffs in the Mississippi RiverValley.

In the winters of my youth, when winter truly was winter with mountains of snow from which to build forts and an abundance of icicles from which to grab swords, I welcomed the season.

The clash of icicle against icicle in a swordfight with my brothers and sisters entertained me between rounds of shoving manure into gutters and feeding cows and bedding straw and carrying pails of steaming milk replacer to calves huddled in the calf barn.

That and memories of boot-skating across patches of frozen water in the farmyard and along the edges of the cornfield encompassed my general experiences with ice.

Until Sunday.

For the first time, I viewed ice as anything but Nature’s art or a source of youthful entertainment or a peril to be avoided.

Horse and sleigh ice sculpture in Waseca, a rural southern Minnesota community.

Just south of the Waseca County Courthouse, partially in the shadow of a downtown building and along busy State Street/Minnesota Highway 13, artists Adam Scholljegerdes and Joe Christenson, with assistance from their families, crafted a horse and sleigh from ice blocks in celebration of Waseca’s 62nd annual Sleigh and Cutter Festival.

She’s a beauty.

For the first time ever in 62 years, ice sculpting was added to Sleigh and Cutter festivities. The event typically involves ice harvesting from Clear Lake, something which did not happen this year due to warm weather and open water. The ice sculpture is just south of the Waseca County Courthouse, a snippet seen here to the right.

Of course, I have nothing with which to compare this work of art. But suffice to say that the pair’s rendition of a horse pulling a sleigh impressed me, my husband and plenty of others who stopped to photograph the ice sculpture, even sit on the sleigh and pet the horse.

Even an ice horse needs petting.

This ice sculpture is a new addition to the annual winter festival which spans several weeks and weekends in February. This year’s fest, which included events like snowmobile races, card tournaments, ice fishing and a parade, runs through February 19. One final event, a Children’s Dream Catcher fundraiser for terminally-ill children in the Waseca area, is set for March 24.

For now, the ice sculpture serves as a visual focal point for the Sleigh and Cutter Festival.

Make haste, I say, if you want to view this temporary work of art in rural southern Minnesota.

This close-up image shows the blocks of ice that comprise the horse. Artists labored nearly 3 1/2 days transforming 50 blocks of ice into this work of art. Sculptor Adam Scholljegerdes worked on a team that recently won first place in the amateur division ice sculpting competition at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival. He is an artist at Brushwork Signs in Faribault, where I live. Joe Christenson has competed at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival since 1986.

An ice-sculpting sponsor points to the Waseca community's rural roots.

A back view of the sculpture, looking toward historic buildings in Waseca's downtown business district.

CLICK HERE for more information about Waseca’s Sleigh and Cutter Festival.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

“Ted from Owatonna” honored for his firefighting efforts February 14, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 11:05 PM
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“I HAVE A NEW-FOUND appreciation for what you guys do,” Ted Leon of Owatonna told members of the Faribault Professional Fire Fighters Local 665 Tuesday evening.

It’s the type of comment I’ve come to expect from Ted, who five months earlier stopped on a Saturday afternoon to extinguish a deck fire at my neighbor’s house. He’s not one to call attention to himself or his actions.

Ted Leon, originally known only as "Ted from Owatonna" extinguishes a fire on and under my neighbor's deck with water from a garden hose around 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 10, 2011.

But on Valentine’s Day evening, the spotlight centered on Ted as he received a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Faribault in a formal presentation before a City Council meeting and then afterward an Emergency Action Award from the firefighters during a casual gathering at the fire hall.

Faribault Mayor John Jasinski reads the city's Certificate of Recognition as Ted Leon, Director of Fire and Emergency Management Joe Berg and Jon Bolster of the fire department look on.

Kristin Klocek, left, and her daughter Kayleigh gather with Ted and Kathryn Leon and sons Jack and Thomas at the informal presentation in the fire hall by union president Ed Hoisington, right.

Ted Leon receives his award from the local firefighters union. This type of award is also given occasionally to those who assist at motor vehicle crashes. An award for helping at a fire was last given a year ago to Xcel Energy, Todd Rost of the fire department said.

It was there in the fire station, surrounded by his family, my neighbors and members of the fire department, that Ted expressed his gratitude to firefighters, recognizing the difficulty of their work. He shared, for the first time, how his heart was racing at the scene of the September 10, 2011, deck fire and for hours afterward.

That admission from Ted surprised me given his calm demeanor while fighting the flames. He spotted the blaze while driving on Willow Street, pulled over, instructed his wife, Kathryn, to call 911 and stay in the van with their three sons, and then ran toward the fire.

Kathryn told me Tuesday that the emergency call was actually made by a young man who also stopped. She locked eyes with him and he indicated he had contacted emergency personnel. The fire department arrived within minutes.

Alerted to the blaze by my teenage son, I grabbed my camera and raced barefoot across the street, reaching Kevin and Kristin Klocek’s home just as Ted was pulling a garden hose toward the burning deck.

He remembers focusing on putting out the fire. I remember screaming for my neighbors to get out of their house. Ted and I didn’t communicate. But if we had, I would have learned that he had already leapt through heat and flames to bang on the front door, alerting Kristin and her young daughter, Kayleigh, of the fire.

The City of Faribault, in the Certificate of Recognition, thanked this citizen firefighter, in part, with these words: “Your quick actions ensured the occupants of the home got out safely and the damage to the home remained minimal.”

Exactly.

I, too, thanked Ted Leon—again—Tuesday evening.

When I first thanked him, at the scene of the fire, I knew him only as “Ted from Owatonna.” He didn’t give me his last name that day, when I questioned his identity as he was about to drive away. But he was found anyway, round-about via a blog post I published on the fire. Bob Collins of Minnesota Public Radio picked up the story in his online NewsCut column. Then The Owatonna People’s Press and The Faribault Daily News published front page stories and photos I had taken, which led to the discovery of Ted Leon.

Ted told me Tuesday he’s not one to draw attention to himself, explaining why he didn’t give me his last name on that day we first met, the day of the fire. He was in a hurry, too, on that September afternoon to get to services at Divine Mercy Catholic Church about a mile away.

He wasn’t in any particular hurry Tuesday evening, posing for photos, but also taking time to thank the firefighters. That’s typical Ted, deflecting the spotlight away from himself..

When an alarm sounded at the fire hall as we were visiting on Tuesday, I advised Ted, “You better get going.” He didn’t miss a beat.

“I’m retired,” he quipped.

Kathryn, who earlier said everything happened so quickly at the September fire that she didn’t have time to worry about Ted, simply rolled her eyes and laughed.

The certificate Ted received from the City of Faribault.

TO READ MY September 10, 2011, blog post about the fire, click here.

To read yet another post about the day Ted was found, click here.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Behind the scenes at a Minnesota floral shop before Valentine’s Day February 13, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:28 AM
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Waseca Floral designers Tara, left, Carol and Lanae work in the shop Sunday morning.

THE SUNDAY MORNING before Valentine’s Day, and the designers at Waseca Floral work at a quick pace, pulling flowers from buckets, snipping stems, sticking greens into vases, tying ribbons and more in a swirl of creativity.

Spools of ribbon line shelves.

They’ve been at it all weekend and, with two days to go, they have yet to face their busiest day, February 14. Most purchases are last-minute, made on Valentine’s Day, says long-time head floral designer Lanae Feser.

And the most popular flower, as one would expect, are red roses, followed by mixed arrangements of red, pink and white flowers.

Roses pack coolers for Valentine's Day.

Lanae isn’t divulging any numbers in either flower quantities or sales, except to estimate that Valentine’s Day related sales this year will be up 15 percent. Customers are reaching deeper into their wallets and adding on the little extras—like a $5 balloon or a box of candy or a stuffed animal—to their floral purchases.

Extras, like balloons, are more popular this year.

And who spends the most money?

“The younger they are, the more they spend,” Lanae says, speculating along with another designer that younger guys are often trying to impress a girl.

Bright blooms fill coolers.

But peer pressure, or perhaps office pressure, also plays a role in some sales. After deliveries to major businesses in town, the floral shop typically experiences a spike in orders.

“There’s nothing worse than everyone in the office getting flowers and your wife doesn’t,” Lanae laughs.

Customers, before writing a message, sometimes ask: "Nobody else is going to see this, right?"

And the men who order flowers don’t just buy for their sweethearts. They also buy for their mothers and, if they have children, for their kids, too, Lanae says.

Over the years, the shop has had a few unusual requests such as a single rose delivered every hour on Valentine’s Day or a rose a day delivered for the seven days prior and then a dozen roses sent on February 14.

For the most part, though, the prevailing attitude among male customers, according to Lanae, seems to be this: “As long as I get her something, I’m OK.”

Some of the floral options designers created in reusable mugs.

Another option...

The single bust for floral shops, the designers and Waseca Floral owner Rick Morris agree, is a Valentine’s Day that falls on a Sunday. Then guys tend to take their sweethearts out to eat rather than give flowers.

Rick Morris, owner of Waseca Floral for 40 years.

Each year Rick reminds his customers of the day on which Valentine’s Day falls via a rhyming poem that airs on area radio station KRUE 92. That 15 to 20-year tradition (Rick can’t recall precisely how long he’s been penning and reading poems for radio spots) started with these two questions:

Where in tarnation can you buy a carnation?

Would it be crazy to buy a daisy?

You can buy carnations and daisies at Waseca Floral.

His current poem begins with these lines:

Valentine’s Day is Tuesday this year

When you will want to bring her cheer

The poem continues for five more verses.

The message is simple, Rick says. “Buy flowers.”

Coolers filled with flowers await customers.

Waseca Floral is ready to deliver flowers on Valentine's Day.

TO READ ABOUT another Waseca Floral advertising tradition, click here.

DISCLAIMER: Waseca Floral Designer Lanae Feser is my sister. I was not paid to, or asked to, write this post, nor did I receive flowers in exchange for this story. My husband, however, unbeknown to me, purchased flowers for me from Waseca Floral.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling