nature | Minnesota Prairie Roots

October reflections from the St. Croix River valley October 15, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: aging, life, Minnesota, nature, scenic drive, St. Croix Falls, St. Croix Falls Lions Park, St. Croix River, Taylors Falls, thoughts, travel, Wisconsin

Driving toward Taylors Falls, Minnesota, from the east provides an especially scenic view of this river community.

TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO in October, my husband and I planned an overnight stay at a bed-and-breakfast in Taylors Falls. We anticipated gorgeous fall colors and rare time alone without the responsibilities of parenting three children.

But then my mother-in-law died unexpectedly a week before the booked get-away and we never rescheduled the trip.

Heading toward St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, and Taylors Falls, Minnesota, along U.S. Highway 8.

This past week, we finally made it to the twin St. Croix River valley communities of Taylors Falls on the Minnesota side and St. Croix Falls in Wisconsin, staying at a chain hotel rather than a B & B. We found the glorious autumn colors we had hoped for and the freedom that comes with being empty nesters.

Shops in downtown St. Croix Falls.

Hop in the van and go. Stop when and where we want. Drive along a winding river road. Hike without worry of kids trailing off the trail or plummeting over the edge of a rocky ledge. Eat late. Sleep in.

My husband on a dock at St. Croix Falls Lions Park along the St. Croix River.

There’s something to be said for this season of life, this nearing age sixty that causes me to pause, to delight in the view, to reflect and appreciate and yearn for the past while simultaneously appreciating the days I live and those which lie before me.

“River Spirit,” a bronze sculpture by local Julie Ann Stage, embodies the poetry and natural beauty of the St. Croix River Valley. The artwork was installed in 2007 and stands at a scenic overlook in downtown St. Croix Falls.

Perhaps I think too deeply, too poetically sometimes.

Reflections, like watercolor on water. A scene photographed at St. Croix Falls Lions Park.

But like the trees buffeting the banks of the St. Croix, I see my days reflected in the river of life.

Beauty along the St. Croix River as seen from Lions Park.

Blazing colors mingling with green.

Leaves upon rock, reflect the unchangeable and the changeable.

Changed and unchanging.

Days of simply enjoying life.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

Life is like a river, sometimes calm, sometimes raging. A view of the St. Croix River shoreline from Lions Park.

Life.

FYI: Click here for more information about the Taylors Falls and St. Croix Falls area.

Comments (20)

Celebrate autumn in Minnesota this weekend October 10, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:15 PM
Tags: autumn, church dinner, craft fair, fall festivals, Faribault, food, Garden City, Minnesota, nature, seasons, travel

THERE’S MUCH TO LOVE about Autumn in Minnesota.

Stop at a roadside stand or a farmers' market for pumpkins, apples, squash and other Minnesota-grown produce. That's me at The Country Store of Pepin (Wisconsin) photographed earlier this week by my husband, Randy.

Stop at a roadside stand or a farmers’ market for pumpkins, apples, squash and other Minnesota-grown produce. That’s me relaxing at The Country Store of Pepin (Wisconsin) photographed earlier this week by my husband, Randy.

It’s the season of harvest and leaves crackling underfoot and piled pumpkins.

My meal at last year's Trinity dinner, minus the bread and cranberries. I had cake for dessert, too.

Trinity Lutheran Church, North Morristown, hosts its annual fall dinner and craft sale from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. this Sunday, October 12. It’s one of the best church dinners around, in my opinion. All of the food (some not shown here) is homemade. Cost is $10 for ages 13 and older; $5 for ages 6-12; and free for ages 5 and younger. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

It’s the season of church dinners.

Christine Henke serves chili, which I classified as "very spicy" at Glam Central Salon.

Faribault holds its annual downtown Fall Festival on Saturday, October 11, with a kids’ costume parade, kids’ activities, chili tasting (between 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.), gallery-on-the-go and a mystery dinner. Visit the Faribault Main Street website for more information. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

And festivals galore.

Just inside the entry to the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds.

The third annual Maker Fair Fall Festival runs from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday, October 11, at the Blue Earth County Fairgrounds in Garden City. Handcrafted arts and food from nearly 100 south central Minnesota artisans will be featured along with music, kids’ activities and more. For more info, visit makerfair.org. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

It’s the season of shopping at craft sales in small towns and along country roads.

Fall colors are at their prime in some areas of Minnesota. This photo, taken on Thursday, shows the St. Croix River near Stillwater.

But most of all, it’s about taking the time to appreciate this season that brings a sharpness to our days, an awareness that we must savor every ray of sunshine, every moment outdoors. Take time this weekend to embrace Autumn before she exits and Winter walks through the door.

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Reflections on Autumn’s arrival in Minnesota October 1, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: agriculture, autumn, harvest, nature, photo essay, Rice County, Rice County Road 24, rural Minnesota, seasons

A tree line tinged in color at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park in southeastern Minnesota.

AUTUMN GRIPS ME like no other season.

Autumn reveals herself in fields ripening along Rice County Road 24 between Faribault and Kenyon, Minnesota.

She draws me into fields drying in russet shades,

Maples are flaming, like this one alongside Minnesota State Highway 60 on the east side of Faribault.

to maples flaming red,

An idyllic rural scene of drying soybeans and gravel road just off Rice County Road 24.

to the aged scent of earth and fire,

Bins await the new crop.

to the hope of a farmer

Soybeans ripe for harvest in Rice County.

and the end of the growing season.

Days of cobalt blue skies or pressing grey give way to evenings that welcome the flicker of candles, apple crisp warm from the oven, sweaters pulled on.

Drying cornfields herald the arrival of Autumn in southeastern Minnesota.

These days, as my flip flops crunch upon fallen leaves, I long to hold on to Autumn, to yank her away from Winter’s pull.

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And there was light & clouds & beauty everywhere in rural Minnesota August 4, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:17 AM
Tags: clouds, landscape, Minnesota, Minnesota State Highway 60, nature, photo essay, rural Minnesota, travel, U.S. Highway 14, weather

Power lines between Redwood Falls and Morgan.

Power lines tower over a cornfield between Redwood Falls and Morgan.

ALL THE WAY HOME, from southwestern Minnesota to southeastern, I watched the sky and the light and the crops as daylight edged ever nearer night.

A farm site sits next to a corn field between Morgan and New Ulm.

There’s something magical about this time when light angles sharp shadows and a certain glow prevails.

Along U.S. Highway 14 between New Ulm and Courtland.

On this particular evening, grey mingled with white and blue, clouds stretching and towering and sometimes nearly imprinting upon the earth.

I waited for the rain. Then, just east of Courtland along U.S. Highway 14, one of Minnesota’s most dangerous rural highways, the sky opened. For a short period, rain rushed across the windshield, washing away residue of bugs and bird poop with each swipe of the wipers.

Traveling U.S. Highway 14 near Eagle Lake.

Soon enough, the rain stopped and dry pavement rolled beneath the van tires.

Grain bins along Minnesota State Highway 60 just off U.S. Highway 14.

I focused once again on the light—the contrast of fading sunlight against battle grey sky,

Light ripples across a hillside of corn between Waterville and Faribault along Minnesota State Highway 60.

light spotlighting a hillside of tasseling corn,

Just east of Waterville along Minnesota State Highway 60.

vibrant yellow traffic signs popping alongside the road.

Barn and bins behind a corn field near Waterville.

The landscape appeared more focused, like a bold-lined picture colored with pointy new crayons. Sharp. New. Unrounded.

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Fairy tale garden in Northfield inspires July 16, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: fairy garden, flowers, garden, garden art, gardening, gnomes, Minnesota, nature, Northfield, Northfield Garden Club Garden Tour, plants, Susan and Dale Kulsrud, Valhalla

MAGICAL. ENCHANTING. DELIGHTFUL.

All those adjectives fit the gardens of Susan and Dale Kulsrud who’ve created a fairy tale world outside their south Northfield home.

One example of the fairy tale magic tucked into the Kulsruds’ gardens.

From streetside, you’d never guess this corner lot would hold such garden charm. So when my husband parked our van and we crossed the driveway past the Corvette to the side yard during the Northfield Garden Club 2014 Garden Tour, we were surprised.

What a delight.

The side yard garden featuring Dale's handcrafted trellis sculpture.

The side yard garden features Dale’s handcrafted trellis sculpture.

First the side garden with an array of flowers—including magnificent towering delphiniums—grabbed my attention. But this plot includes much more than plants. An impressive wood sculpture trellis crafted by Dale defines the space that includes other works of art.

The garden shed, Valhalla.

Art. It’s everywhere in this enchanting yard where a garden shed of Dale’s design and crafting anchors a rear corner.

I almost hesitate to dub this building a shed given its appearance and name, Valhalla. The name is an apparent tribute to the family’s Scandinavian heritage. Valhalla is a hall for the slain in Norse lore.

Shade-loving plants fill the Valhalla garden.

With the use of carefully chosen shade-loving plants like hosta, King Kong coleus, ivy, impatiens, begonias and more and the integration of garden art, the Kulsruds have created a fantasy world in their backyard.

A view of the garden behind and to the side of Valhalla.

The area surrounding Valhalla calls for an inchworm pace with multiple pauses to examine the details. I literally lowered myself to nearly lying down at some points to take in and photograph the scenes created here. Kids would love this mini world of surprises tucked in among the plants:

I placed my camera on the ground to photograph this cat napping among hostas and impatiens.

I placed my camera on the ground to photograph this cat napping among hosta and impatiens.

A jolt of color among hosta. Perfect.

Some of the art is more serious, like this bust among flowering hosta.

Garden gnome humor.

The stuff of fairy tales…

Looking down in to a fairy garden created in a bird bath.

A ground level view of the gnomes’ rocky woodland home.

My favorite scene could have come straight from the pages of a Scandinavian storybook with a gnome house situated against a tree trunk and the resident gnome sweeping his front stoop. It’s absolutely magical.

Petunias spill from a tipped pot.

This entire yard enchants with plant life and art complementing each other. Flowers and accent plants spill from pots and window boxes, mingling with all that art.

Impatiens and butterfly art add color to a plant situated along a walk way.

Impatiens and butterfly art add color to a planter situated along a walk way.

I left undeniably inspired.

CHECK BACK FOR MORE POSTS from the Northfield Garden Club 2014 Garden Tour.

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A rainbow of holiday memories July 7, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: family, Fourth of July, memories, Minnesota, nature, rain, rainbow, rural Lamberton

One end of the beautiful double rainbow.

THERE WAS NO NEED to search for the pot of gold at the end of the double rainbow arcing across the early evening sky north of Lamberton on July Fourth.

No need, because the garage on my brother and sister-in-law’s rural acreage held something much more precious than gold. Family.

Gathering inside the garage to watch the kids playing in the rain.

Every Fourth, my mom, my siblings and their families and my family (those who can make it) gather to celebrate our nation’s birth and a day together. It’s become a wonderful tradition—a day and evening of conversation and laughter, food and fun, as only we can mark the holiday.

My nephew and great niece dance in the rain.

My nephew and great niece jump in the rain.

We remember. We build new memories. This year we imprinted those rainbows upon our collective memory and watched as the kids played in the rain.

Follow the leader or monkey see, monkey do.

Hands splashing in puddles. Feet dancing. Hair and clothes soaked.

I shot this of my great nephew and his mom and my great niece running back to the garage.

Through the rain-streaked garage door window, I shot this image of my great nephew and his mom and my great niece running back to the garage.

Such memories, such fun times together, truly more precious than gold.

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Ring, not rain, dance in a Wisconsin park June 20, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: Appleton, art, churches, city park, Dallas Anderson, fountain, historic homes, nature, parks, sculpture, Wisconsin

CITY PARK IN APPLETON, WISCONSIN, is one of those parks that causes you to linger and appreciate.

“Ring Dance” by sculptor Dallas Anderson serves as City Park’s focal point. Private donations paid for the $483,000 fountain sculpture which was dedicated in August 1996.

It’s the setting as much as the fountain sculpture focal point that pull me into this neighborhood park next to Lawrence University on the eastern edge of downtown.

Spectacular one-of-a-kind historic homes define the neighborhood.

Historic, sprawling homes draw my eyes to inviting front porches and turrets and other architectural details. Homes so lovely I would move into any of them if I had the money.

A beautiful bush flowers during my May visit to City Park.

Rather, I covet that which I cannot own, imagine gleaming wood floors creaking with age, thick plaster walls, shining banisters, banks of windows streaming sunlight into rooms pasted with cabbage rose wallpaper.

The Hubert House Film House, right across from City Park, is part of Lawrence University.

The writer in me is writing the stories of these homes as my eyes scan exteriors while strolling the park perimeter.

Impressive First English Lutheran Church.

And then, I pause to study First English Lutheran Church, a strong stone structure that dominates a street corner. Stunning.

Moving in as close as I can without water spraying onto my camera.

Back in City Park, the lure of water leads me to the fountain, where sculpted children dance, ankles intertwined.

Fountain information imprinted upon a plaque.

If I could, I would join the circle, the “Ring Dance,” washing away worries.

A rainbow…

But on this evening, sunlight on water beaming a rainbow, I simply appreciate the moment.

Rush of bubbling water. Sunlight fading in the golden hour. Time here, with the man and daughter I love.

BONUS PHOTOS from an earlier visit in August 2011:

Impatiens fill planters in the park.

Circling “Ring Dance.”

A food truck stops at City Park.

FYI: For more information about “Ring Dance” sculptor Dallas Anderson, click here.

This coming Sunday, June 22, City Park, 500 E. Franklin Street, hosts the annual Juneteenth Festival sponsored by African Heritage, Inc., and the City of Appleton. The noon to 5 p.m. free admission event celebrates freedom, unity and community. The fest includes performances by Chicago-based Ayodele Drum & Dance, a Michael Jackson impersonator and other musicians; showing of “Stone of Hope: Black Experiences in Appleton,” a pop-up museum exhibit; games; and children’s activities. Food vendors will also be on site. For more information about Juneteenth Festival, click here.

Click here to read a previous post from City Park. And watch for a future post on an unusual tree discovered here.

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Flood prep underway in Faribault June 18, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 10:55 PM
Tags: Cannon River, Faribault, Faribault Foods, Faribault Woolen Mill, flood prep, flooding, Minnesota, nature, State of Emergency, Straight River, Teepee Tonka Park, weather

Early Thursday evening along the banks of the Cannon River in Faribault, clouds build to the west.

Early Wednesday evening along the banks of the Cannon River in Faribault, rain clouds build to the west.

FARIBAULT HOLDS ITS COLLECTIVE breath Wednesday evening as grey clouds hang heavy over this southeastern Minnesota city, once again threatening rain.

Co-honorary parade grand marshall Roy Anderson addresses the crowd at the opening of Heritage Days.

Co-honorary parade grand marshal Roy Anderson addresses the crowd at the opening of Heritage Days.

At Central Park, where the annual Heritage Days celebration kicks off with an opening ceremony, Mayor John Jasinski cuts short his welcome. He’s got more serious matters on his mind—tending to a community where a State of Emergency was declared Wednesday morning.

The rising Cannon River along Second Avenue nearly skims the bridge. Faribault Foods is in the background and the Faribault Woolen Mill is to the right. This is near the Rice County Fairgrounds along a major roadway through the city.

The waters of the Straight and Cannon rivers, which run through town, are rising. And the city is preparing for possible flooding, with reminders of the September 2010 flash flood ever present.

Sandbags have been placed in the mill parking lot next to the Cannon River.

At the Faribault Woolen Mill, Heritage Days tours have been canceled with the focus instead on sandbagging and protecting the historic building that sits along the Cannon River.

Photographing the rising Cannon River. The dam here is no longer visible. Typically, the river does flow against the rear of the mill.

Locals flock to Father Slevin Park, next to the Cannon, next to the Woolen Mill, Wednesday evening to photograph the scene. The Cannon River dam is no longer visible.

Sandbags protect the Faribault Woolen Mill from the rising Cannon River.

Sandbags hold down a pipe at the Faribault Woolen Mill factory and retail store.

An overview of the Cannon River, looking south from Father Slevin Park to the Faribault Woolen Mill.

An overview of the Cannon River, looking southeast from Father Slevin Park to the Faribault Woolen Mill and Faribault Foods.

Several layers of sandbags rim the parking lot next to the factory store.

Sandbags also protect Faribault Foods.

Straight River floodwaters block access to a Faribault Foods loading dock.

Sandbags border the door to bean receiving at Faribault Foods.

Directly across Second Avenue, sandbags likewise protect Faribault Foods. Behind the canning company, the rising Straight River has already blocked access to loading docks. Other doors are also barricaded with plastic-covered sandbags.

Working to protect the city’s wastewater plant, which sits along the Straight River.

The entry to the city’s treatment plant.

Just down the road, at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, a steady flow of dump trucks enter and exit the facility, presumably delivering sand. Sandbags are already in place here.

Sandbag central.

Near the Faribault American Legion, just a block off the historic downtown, workers shovel sand into bags at the city’s sandbag central. Road closed signs are at the ready.

The Straight River has flooded Teepee Tonka Park and churns here toward the Highway 60 viaduct connecting the east and west sides of Faribault.

Flooded Teepee Tonka Park.

Across the Straight River in Teepee Tonka Park, the bridge into the park is blocked and the river rushes in a frenzy.

The bridge into Teepee Tonka Park is partially flooded and thus closed.

Onlookers step across police tape to photograph the scene—until the cops cruise up and advise that “the tape is there for a reason.” They don’t want anyone tumbling into the muddy, raging waters.

Police arrive to protect the curious public at Teepee Tonka Park.

Police arrive to check out the situation at Teepee Tonka Park.

Darkness falls and Faribault waits.

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Too much rain & too little June 17, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: California, drought, Minnesota, nature, rain, valley fever, weather

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY, come again another day.

Driving home in the rain Saturday afternoon near Owatonna.

Minnesotans are wishing just that. Give us some dry weather after this perpetual rainfall which has inundated our state in recent days.

If only we could ship this moisture west…to California.

My friend Norma would certainly welcome it. She tells me of temps over 110 in the southern central valley region. Dirt, not dust, storms brought unhealthy brown fog that lingered for two days. She tells of waves of dirt and brushing dirt from her car.

I cannot imagine.

She worries about valley fever spores that swirl in the arid climate. Valley fever is a lung infection brought on by inhaling a microscopic fungus that is found in the region’s soil.

She is concerned, too, about orange growers and other farmers. Already food prices are rising in grocery stores.

This area of California needs rain.

Just like Minnesota doesn’t need more moisture right now.

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I’m not a tree hugger, but… June 2, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: Cottonwood, nature, prairie, southwestern Minnesota, tree hugger, trees, Vesta

MY AUNT JEANETTE has been duly informed.

The ancient cottonwood stands on the north edge of Vesta.

If she ever attempts to have the massive/towering/gigantic cottonwood in her yard cut down, I will be right there hugging that tree.

Now I am not a tree hugger in the true definition of a tree hugger. I would not scamper onto the limb of a tree to prevent its removal. For one thing, I am not agile like a squirrel. Secondly, I am not an outspoken, protesting type person, at least not in public.

But I did protest privately to my aunt when she mentioned cutting down that beautiful sprawling cottonwood gracing her yard.

The tree is messy, she explained, wondering then if I’d like to clean up the cottony seeds and sticky bud capsules dropped onto her lawn.

Point taken.

Yet, this cottonwood deserves special consideration given it’s likely the oldest tree in my southwestern Minnesota prairie hometown. It’s certainly the biggest in girth and the tallest tree in this community of some 320.

I can imagine the early settlers arriving in this mostly treeless land, wind-bent prairie grasses stretching for miles before them. And then, in the distance, the shimmering leaves of a cottonwood.

Or perhaps one of them brought a cottonwood seedling here, planted it on the north edge of this new prairie town.

Decades later, a tire swing looped by a rope to a limb, the sturdy cottonwood still stands strong against the vast prairie sky in my beloved hometown.

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Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

October reflections from the St. Croix River valley October 15, 2014

Celebrate autumn in Minnesota this weekend October 10, 2014

Reflections on Autumn’s arrival in Minnesota October 1, 2014

And there was light & clouds & beauty everywhere in rural Minnesota August 4, 2014

Fairy tale garden in Northfield inspires July 16, 2014

A rainbow of holiday memories July 7, 2014

Ring, not rain, dance in a Wisconsin park June 20, 2014

Flood prep underway in Faribault June 18, 2014

Too much rain & too little June 17, 2014

I’m not a tree hugger, but… June 2, 2014

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An essay of barn photos & memories; In praise of preserving country churches; & Testing the track during a Soap Box Derby trial run in Faribault

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