LAST WEEK’S STREAK of gloriously warm, sunny days here in southern Minnesota beckoned Randy and me to hit the road on Friday to view the fall colors. We’d worked hard earlier in the week, me writing and painting and he laboring over automotive jobs.
As life-long Minnesotans, we understand that these golden autumn days are fleeting. And, indeed, the weather has now changed to cold, gloomy and rainy. So our decision to take a day off and away proved the right choice.
I love these day trips into the countryside and into the small towns in our region. It’s an opportunity to get out of Faribault, reconnect to our rural roots and delight in new discoveries.
Before this outing even began, though, the day opened with a sunrise so lovely that I simply stood at my living room window taking in the scene before me. Light in shades of red, gold and orange fired across the eastern sky, blazing between clouds, creating a painterly visual.
Soon we would be off, picnic lunch packed, driving east into a landscape hazy with wind-blown harvest dust and land in need of a good, soaking rain.
We saw our first masses of color in the dense woods of Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. We opted not to stop at this busy fall destination park, but rather continued on to the small town of Nerstrand.
A quick drive-through didn’t reveal much new in Nerstrand. But I did spot the most inviting front porch area graced with autumn décor of pumpkins, mums and a corn shock plus a vintage bike and lush ferns. I wanted to walk right up the front steps, knock on the door and ask to sit a spell in one of the comfy wicker chairs for conversation and perhaps a mug of steaming coffee. I’ve always wanted to live in a house with a front porch.
Onward we drove, winding our way toward Dennison, past farms and occasional splashes of colorful trees.
Once in town, I noticed a new establishment, Cattlemen’s Saloon, which seems a fitting name for this small farming community. The saloon, previously the 625 Bar & Grill, opened a year ago under the same ownership but with a new focus and branding.
I also happened upon some no trespassing signage that left me feeling uneasy. I got the message, as intended, that I ought to stay clear of this vacant property or else. I just don’t share the owner’s sense of humor regarding weapons.
Next we aimed toward Cannon Falls, twisting through the picturesque Sogn Valley area. Some fall color tinted hillsides of trees, but nothing spectacular. We realized that perhaps we were a week late to see the peak of autumn hues here.
Yet, a drive like this doesn’t depend on a singular attraction to make it enjoyable. Rather, I delight in the unexpected, the quirky, the details that help define a place. And first off in Cannon Falls, that was an old John Deere tractor hoisted high atop a metal frame on the south edge of town. I wondered how that tractor was lifted into place.
But it was in downtown Cannon Falls where I found the highlight of the day—Sweet Kneads. I love a good local bakery. Only on day trips do I treat myself to a bakery sweet, this time a blueberry Bismarck donut that was over-the-top yummy, oozing with blueberry filling that tasted fresh, not canned. It was one of the best bakery treats, if not the best, I’ve ever eaten.
With sweets fueling us, Randy and I were ready to hit the road again, but not before a quick look at seasonally-decorated storefronts at neighboring businesses. We could easily have spent several hours downtown, home to restaurants, boutiques, a cheese shop, florist, winery, brewery, antique store and much more. Cannon Falls offers a lot. We’ve previously lingered for hours here. But this trip we focused on finding fall colors. So out of town we headed, eastward bound toward Welch.
FYI: Please check back as I continue on this fall color day trip into rural southern Minnesota.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Finding peace outside Nerstrand Elementary School & elsewhere December 2, 2025
Tags: art, commentary, education, learning, Minnesota, Nerstrand, Nerstrand Elementary Charter School, Nerstrand Peace Garden, peace, school, small towns, Ukraine, words
I CAME OF AGE in the early 1970s near the end of the Vietnam War. Those were years of national protests and pushing for peace. Young people, especially, embraced the word “peace”—in speech, in fashion, in actions. Like so many other teens of my era, I flashed the peace sign, wore peace-themed jewelry, drew the peace symbol on the covers of school notebooks. I once wrote a poem about peace, long forgotten now and tucked into a cardboard box among other long ago musings.
Lately, I’ve been musing about peace during these tumultuous times in which we live. So I challenged myself to look around for that which uplifts, enlightens, makes me smile. Gives me a sense of peace.
I found what I sought in art, actions and, most of all, words. I am, after all, a wordsmith. Someone who works with words. Building, shaping, sharing. Someone who understands that words hold great power to build up or destroy. Someone who understands that words matter. Greatly. They can inspire, give us hope, offer peace. Or just the opposite.
With peace on my mind, I revisited the Peace Garden at Nerstrand Elementary Charter School in the rural farming community of Nerstrand, population not quite 280 and perhaps best known as home to 135-year-old family-owned Nerstrand Meats & Catering.
In 1999, the school was established as a peace site with the garden started in 2000 on the front lawn. That’s 25 years now of honoring peace. In words, art and plantings, this garden features 14 countries.
Signage at the garden emphasizes that we all live under the same sun and moon on the same planet. We are all connected and all part of building a world “to make everyone proud.” That includes the U.S., Russia, China, Mexico, Canada… This is not a political message posted outside this small town Minnesota elementary school. Rather, this is a simple statement about those of us who call planet Earth our home.
I arrived on an autumn day looking for the newest addition to the Peace Garden. Ukraine. And I found it near a picnic table and bike rack—a yellow and blue (the colors of the Ukrainian flag) planter filled with towering sunflowers past their summer prime. As I paused and read the singular word “Kiev” on a sign, I thought of the people of Ukraine. Oh, how they must yearn for peace in the midst of ongoing war.
Peace on an international scale feels elusive, as it’s always been. But then the same can be said nationally. Disagreements have flamed into much more than differences of opinion.
Yet, here I stood outside a school where children grow their knowledge, begin to understand that this world is much bigger than Nerstrand or Rice County or Minnesota or the U.S. I’m thankful that each day, as these student walk into school, they see the word “PEACE” atop the roof.
These children are our future. Perhaps they will grow to make peace marks upon their communities, maybe even the world. Perhaps they will live just ordinary lives, living peacefully among others while doing good. There’s so much potential.
I needed to walk around the Nerstrand Peace Garden, take in the words, art, plantings. In the quiet of this small town where the school sits next to farm fields, peace feels possible.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling