Flowers blooming a few weeks ago in the Rice County Master Gardeners Teaching Gardens. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
IN THIS FLEETING TIME before winter arrives, I find myself drawn to end-of-the-season blooms. And plenty remain, clinging to summer past, attaching to autumn present, but some already ceding to the inevitable cold and snow yet to come.
A mass of brown-eyed (I think) susans. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Even as days grow shorter and nightfall presses dark upon the land, these flowers remain. And I delight in them wherever they stand, bend into the wind, catch the light of the morning and evening sun.
The roses are still blooming. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Most surprising, perhaps, are the roses that linger. I dip my nose close, expecting the heady scent of perfume, only to be disappointed. They smell ever so faint, a scent barely noticeable.
When I took this photo in late September, Monarchs flitted among zinnias. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Zinnias flash color, a beacon for monarchs.
Stunning sedum, absolutely beautiful in the evening light. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Sedum and seed heads and sunny yellow flowers all cozy together, some spent, some still determined to survive as the season shifts toward winter.
Paver pathways weave through the gardens which include benches, a water feature, rock snakes and more. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
I feel this sense of urgency to focus my eyes on flowers, to imprint upon my memory their glorious beauty. And so I wander among the blooms and dying blooms in the Rice County Master Gardeners Teaching Gardens in Faribault.
Photographed up close or at a distance, these flowers are lovely in the evening light of autumn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I love this oasis on the Rice County Fairgrounds next to the historical society. It offers a peaceful respite just off heavily-trafficked Second Avenue where vehicles rush by, their drivers seemingly unaware of the nearby gardens.
The garden includes two rock snakes, this flower stone among the many forming the serpent. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
But I long ago discovered this spot. Perfect for a picnic. Perfect for wandering. Perfect for photographing flowers. Perfect for reflecting and learning and enjoying. I’m grateful for every volunteer who lovingly tends this garden so I can come here. Sit. Walk. Photograph. Snapshot the scene for future reference.
A grass stem glows in the light of sunset. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
When winter comes with its wind and deep-freeze cold and snow, I will remember the pink roses, the bold brown-eyed susans, the grass glowing in the sunlight.
A coneflower seed head. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
And when winter drags on, I will remember this place and how, when spring arrives, the perennials will resurrect and pop through the earth. I will remember, too, how seeds sown in the soil will sprout and push green shoots through the earth to leaf and blossom and bring me summer joy.
Parked at Thomas Gardens in Faribault, a late 1970s or early 1980s International tractor centers an autumn photo op scene. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
ON THE EVENING of the autumn equinox, I headed to Faribault’s east side, crossing the viaduct over the Straight River to Thomas Gardens along St. Paul Road. The business was closed upon my arrival, which mattered not to me. I was here to photograph an International 274 tractor and pumpkins during “the golden hour.” That’s an hour before sunset or an hour after sunrise when the warm, soft glow of the setting or rising sun proves particularly lovely for taking photos.
The setting sun shines through an opening in the treeline as I shot this image. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
As I framed the tractor, staged as a photo prop in an autumn scene of straw bales, varied colorful pumpkins and corn shocks, I noticed the golden orb of the sun peeking through the treeline across the street. I remained ever cognizant of the light, diminishing with each snap of the shutter button.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I felt giddy as I photographed first that tractor and then masses of pumpkins outside the building. Colors popped in the perfect light. Multi-hued pumpkins. Deep orange ones. White ones. Yellow ones. Pumpkins with warty bumps, others smooth. Sooooo many pumpkins scattered across the street-side yard.
Thomas Gardens is housed in this building along St. Paul Road on Faribault’s east side. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I remember when the previous owners of 50-plus years piled pumpkins onto flatbed trailers parked inside and outside Twiehoff Gardens & Nursery. Matt and Stefanie Thomas bought the business in 2019. Matt grew up on a dairy farm near Dundas, which pleases me given I was also raised on a dairy farm. Like me, he understands hard work. On his business website, Thomas writes about teaching his three kids the value of hard work, teamwork and family values. This seems a good place to do that.
Mums for sale outside the greenhouses. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Here the Thomas family grows and sells garden-fresh vegetables, flowers and plants, plus markets honey, maple syrup, Christmas trees and more from their pole shed style building, greenhouses and the yard where I roamed with my 35mm Canon EOS 60D camera.
Mostly potted mums, but a few other flowers and plants, are for sale in autumn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
When I finished photographing the tractor and all those pumpkins, I moved onto the flowers, mostly mums. The flower of fall. Single colors and multi colors in pots. Oranges, yellows, rose, even white.
A pumpkin tops the tractor against a corn shock with a tint of pink in the sky. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I aimed my camera lens down for a closeup photo of a massive striped pumpkin. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Pumpkins set next to a tractor tire pop color in the grass. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
I remained caught up in my photography until I glanced back at the tractor and the treeline. In that moment I realized I really wanted to watch the sun set at City View Park, just down the road a bit. It’s a beautiful site overlooking Faribault next to a city water tower and across the street from Trump’s Apple Orchard. We occasionally picnick here and watch the Fourth of July fireworks at this hilltop location.
Just after sunset at City View Park, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
But Randy and I arrived too late. I could see, as we pulled into the small parking lot, that the orange ball of the sun had already dropped leaving a skyline tinged with pink. Disappointment coursed through me.
Yet, others didn’t miss the sunset. Three teenage boys sat on a park bench facing the city overlook. As I walked toward them, I wondered why they were here, what they might be doing. Yes, I admit I thought they might be up to no good. I was wrong. They were here watching and photographing the sunset with their smartphones. I asked to see their pictures and they pulled out their phones and showed me the beauty I missed by my delayed arrival.
I took the opportunity then to praise them—to tell them how wonderful it was to see them outdoors, appreciating the sunset. Moments like this, generational interactions like this, conversations like this, matter. These youth understood the value of pausing to sit and watch the sun set across their city on the first evening of autumn. And I recognized the value of acknowledging that.
A firefighter rings a bell outside the Faribault Fire Hall during the 9/11 ceremony. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
WE GATHERED THURSDAY MORNING at the Faribault Fire Hall as the sun beamed bright upon the crowd, as those in uniform stood in reverent respect, as engines idled, as the bell rang, as the American flag was raised and lowered, as heads bowed in prayer.
People gather inside and outside the fire hall before the commemoration began at 7:46 a.m. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
A Faribault police officer clutches an American flag. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Cleaning a Rice County Sheriff’s Department vehicle before the ceremony. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
A short ceremony here marked the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, an act of violence that initially claimed 2,977 lives. And many others in the years thereafter.
Flag bearing police officers participating in the memorial event. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Saluting. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Members of the sheriff’s department and others salute. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
At 7:46 a.m., when the first plane, Flight 11, hit the first World Trade Center, the ceremony in Faribault began. I mostly wandered, watched, framed photos, struggled to hear speakers. But mostly, I heard the silence, felt the heaviness upon hearts, remembered.
The youngest in attendance stands inside the fire hall. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
On that morning in 2001, I was caring for my 7-year-old son, who wasn’t feeling well, and his friend. I knew nothing of the attack until my husband called from work to inform me. As I scanned the crowd 24 years later, I wondered where all of them were when the unthinkable happened. Some were not yet born. Others, like Faribault’s communications director, was sitting in his seventh grade science class when he got the news. Many of us were just going about our normal day.
The line-up of firefighters, police officers and others was impressive. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
When I reflect on that day, I recall how profoundly different the world felt afterwards. The absence of airplanes in the sky following the attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon and then the crash of the fourth plane over a field in Pennsylvania was noticeable. I remember worrying, wondering if the Mall of America in Minnesota would be attacked in a symbolic act of terrorism. Everything felt different. Surreal. Scary.
Many firefighters were in attendance, as I would expect given how many of their brothers and sisters on the East Coast perished on 9/11. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
A Faribault fire fighter with two Faribault police officers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Time passes. Days, months, years, decades. And here I was, 24 years later, standing outside my local fire hall. Standing with firefighters, law enforcement, EMTs, an insurance agent, the former mayor, city employees, local media, a child, a veteran, an older woman and her dog…ordinary people remembering those lost on that tragic day in American history, 9/11.
Patriotism threaded through the event. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
TELL ME: What are your memories from September 11, 2001? How did you feel and how do you feel now?
This Faribault fire truck was parked along the street by the fire hall. Other emergency vehicles were also parked either along the street or on the fire hall driveway. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2025)
Wagons heaped with harvested oats provide an interesting backdrop for the approaching horse-drawn wagon at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
PHOTOS TELL STORIES, record moments in time, preserve memories, prompt emotional reactions, convey messages and more.
The first picture I took at the farm show, just outside the entry gate. I love the creativity and humor in this scene. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
My venture into photography began when I studied journalism in college with a photography class as part of the degree requirement. This was back in the day of film and darkrooms. Chemicals, water baths and contact sheets were part of a long process to get from photo snapped to photo printed.
I love capturing moments like this of someone so focused on a task that they are unaware of my presence. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
During my twenties working as a small town newspaper reporter, I honed the craft of photography. I juggled interviews and note taking with shooting photos. Today’s reporters do the same unless they are employed by a metro newspaper with a staff photographer.
I opted to zoom in on this mammoth steam engine, focusing on the steam and wheels, emphasizing the power of this long ago agricultural work horse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
After a while, I got comfortable with the camera, confident in my abilities to shoot images to accompany hard news, features and other stories. Practice may not make perfect, but it certainly builds skills.
I was sitting on the ground underneath a tree eating lunch when I aimed my camera lens up and took this photo of a guy driving this 1955 Oliver Super 66.The perspective makes this photo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I’ve grown to love photography through the years, especially after acquiring a digital camera while freelancing for a Minnesota magazine. Digital unleashed the photo creative in me. I no longer had to worry about the cost of film or running out of film. So I took a lot more photos, tried new perspectives, began to see the world through an artistic lens. More often than not, I find myself thinking, oh, that would make a good photo.
I didn’t even realize I’d captured this joyful moment until I uploaded my photos to the computer. I’d been firing off shots of the kids’ pedal tractor pull and this one, among all, is my favorite. It shows a moment of pure happiness. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
But vision issues are now affecting and limiting my photography. My eyes are misaligned, meaning my brain works hard (even with prism-heavy prescription eyeglasses) to see. It’s exhausting. I do my best. Yet it’s challenging sometimes to tell if an image is sharp. I can feel the strain on my eyes when I use my camera for an extended time and when I process images on my computer.
I stood in the doorway of the dining room to photograph these women visiting in the kitchen of the 1912 farmhouse where homemade cookies awaited guests. I like how the doorframe frames this photo, as if the viewer is eavesdropping on a private conversation. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Still, I persist. Until I either have another bilateral strabismus eye surgery or try a different (and expensive) prescription, this is the way it is. At least I can see. I manage. I can still create with my 35mm Canon EOS 60D.
During the tractor parade, I noticed these sweet kids riding in a wagon behind an old corn picker mounted on a John Deere tractor. I like the perspective and that part of the corn picker shows in the upper left corner of this photo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Last Saturday I did the longest photo shoot I’ve done in several years. I took hundreds of images during six hours at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show. It’s a fun event to document with so much happening and so many people attending. I don’t want to stop doing what I love.
This close-up image of corn shelling shows exactly what I had hoped: the dust. I sometimes zoom in to focus on a smaller part of the broader picture. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
My biggest challenges in covering the event came in dodging golf carts that swarmed the grounds and in avoiding dust from some of the farming demonstrations. Cameras and dirt are not friends. I also always had to be cognizant of unintentional photo bombing by people and those pesky (but necessary for some to get around) golf carts.
This photo shows off not only tractors, but human connection as the driver waves to the crowd during the tractor parade. I love this moment of humanity when nothing else matters. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I’ve already shared many show photos with you in an overall post about the event and in a second focusing on art. Today I bring you a hodge-podge of more favorites, with an explanation in the captions of why I like the images. Enjoy!
Vintage posters displayed from the early years of the current Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show, before the name and location changed. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
ART EXISTS EVERYWHERE, even at a farm-themed event. My photos from the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show last Saturday in rural Dundas prove that. As a creative, I view life through an artistic lens. So I’m naturally drawn to photograph items that others may not necessarily see as art.
I see tractor emblems, including this one on a vintage Ford, as works of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
In this photo essay, you’ll view a sampling of the “art” I discovered. I found art on vintage tractors, on clothing, at the flea market, especially at the flea market, and beyond.
Two brass sculptures offered by a vendor. They are not solid brass, so not as heavy as they appear. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Let’s start there, among market vendors selling a variety of goods ranging from toy tractors to glassware to home décor and everything in between. The art that drew my deepest interest—two massive brass sculptures of African men—sat on a flatbed trailer. They were nothing short of spectacular. Such grace. Such power in their muscular arms and legs. Truly, truly stunning. Seller Daniel Bell of Faribault, who calls himself a picker, found the matching pair in Iowa. The sculptures once supported tabletops, now missing. He’s priced each at $575. I can connect you with Dan if you’re interested.
Vintage tray art from the 1950s. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Almost as interesting, and certainly thought-provoking in 2025, is a 1950s image of children dressed in western attire and brandishing pistols. When I reflect on that scene printed on a tray, I remember how I, too, owned a toy cap gun and played “Cowboys and Indians.” That all seems so terribly wrong now when viewing this as an adult in a world riddled by gun violence. I’m thankful for changed attitudes and perspectives about our Indigenous Peoples and about toy guns.
A Jolly Green Giant themed plastic mug. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I spotted art on a plastic coffee mug from Minnesota Valley Canning Company featuring the Green Giant brand of GREAT BIG TENDER PEAS. The back side of the mug is imprinted with the story of the Jolly Green Giant. I should have purchased the cup, which belonged to the father of the flea market vendor. He worked at the canning company in Le Sueur until its 1995 closure. This mug is more than a mug. It’s a collectible piece of regional literary and visual art.
The artsy cover of the 1984 Northfield Arts Guild commemorative cookbook. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
And then I found art on the cover and inside the Northfield Arts Guild’s 25th anniversary cookbook from 1984. Not unexpected, it features the art of rural Northfielder Fred Somers, whose work I admire.
A damaged work of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
At another vendor, I spotted a bullet-riddled cow weather vane, a form of functional rural art. And apparently a shooting target, too. I saw a horse weather vane inside a showgrounds building.
Pop art in my eyes. The vendor saw the lips as otherwise, as a bill holder. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
And then there were the duck decoys, the red plastic lips and the jar full of colored plastic clothespins, all viewed as art by me.
The leather goods vendor paints while manning his stand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I even saw a vendor painting, freshening up the words “C’MON MAN!” on his van. He was selling mostly leather belts, an inventory purchased when a leather goods shop closed.
Show buttons on a straw hat and even a keychain are forms of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Creative arts of yesteryear shown inside the old farmhouse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Elsewhere around the showgrounds, art exists also. I discovered it on commemorative buttons, stickers and signs. Inside the 1912 farmhouse a vintage sewing machine and fabric scraps highlighted the creative arts.
Brand loyalty in fashion. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I even found fashion art—in a John Deere/Hawaiian shirt worn by a John Deere tractor owner.
Among the art displayed inside the old Waterford School and then community center. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Art (prints and photos) graces a wall of the Waterford Community Center, once a one-room school, moved onto the Steam & Gas Engines showgrounds and opened to the public this year.
The culinary arts in pies crafted by the Amish. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
And then there are the culinary arts as perfected by an Amish family selling handheld fruit pastries and pies plus homemade ice cream crafted on-site as attendees watched. They are new-to-the-show vendors. The peach pastry and ice cream, oh, my, so delicious. They sold out of pies and handhelds.
I see this collage of farm show stickers as art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
This may be a show themed to farming of yesteryear. But, as I discovered, art also abounds. Sometimes you just have to look through an artistic lens to see it.
A view of Kenyon’s downtown business district along Minnesota State Highway 60 which runs through the heart of this southern Minnesota community. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
EVERY SMALL TOWN I’ve ever visited, and I’ve been to a lot, has unique, identifying qualities that make it memorable. In Ellendale, it’s the old-fashioned grocery store and meat market. In Montgomery, it’s the veterans’ photos displayed downtown, the bakery, the arts and heritage center, the murals and vintage signage. And in Kenyon, it’s the roses growing along the boulevard, the signs, the thrift shops and more.
One of two fabulous thrift shops in Kenyon, the other SIFT Thrift Store. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Among the many tree shrub roses blooming in the Boulevard of Roses along Highway 60 through Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
I peered inside Nygaard Garage to see a car on a hoist. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
There’s so much to see in these rural communities, if only we stop, exit our vehicles and walk. We miss a lot when we simply wheel by. I encourage you, next time you drive into an Ellendale, a Montgomery, a Kenyon, to explore. On foot.
Kenyon Meats draws attention with humorous signage. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
A note in a storefront window. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
I spotted several signs noting eggs for sale and support for the local school. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
I did that recently in Kenyon, starting at Kenyon Meats, working my way through the several-block downtown business district. I moved at a slow pace, zooming in on details. Like handwritten notes posted in windows, business signs, community notices. Those show the nuances of place. I chatted with a barber and a restaurateur.
I saw two barbershops located across the street from one another, one with a laundromat in the back. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
The laundromat behind Dick’s Barber Shop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Colorful flags mark the permanent location of the food truck Che Che’s Lunchera on the corner of Highway 60 by the former BP station. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Kenyon, with a population of just under 2,000, impresses me with its variety of businesses. Meat market, barbershops, floral and gift shop, jewelry store, two thrift shops, grocery store, repair shops/garages, insurance agencies, hardware store, municipal liquor store, restaurants, newspaper office, vet clinic, sign shop, bus service and more. Even a food truck parked on the corner of busy Minnesota State Highway 60. And that’s mostly in the core downtown area.
A sign posted downtown for this Saturday’s car and truck show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Held Bus Service is located right downtown Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Next time I stop in Kenyon, I need to eat at Angie’s Restaurant. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
This week, Kenyon, like so many small towns, hosts a community celebration that is all about bringing people together. Rose Fest runs August 14-18 with a parade, car and truck show, vendor and craft market, city-wide garage sales, a regatta at the pool, BINGO, fire department water fights, tractor pull, magic show, music, food, food and more food… A true community celebration in every sense of a small town summer event that requires a great deal of planning and enthusiastic volunteers.
Walking the dog in downtown Kenyon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Among the many roses blooming in Kenyon’s Boulevard of Roses. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
One of my favorite finds in Kenyon, this Fox’s Garage signage. This building once housed the Martin Fox Garage. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
At the heart of everything are the people—those who grew up here or moved from elsewhere to settle into this place—who call Kenyon home. Theirs is a community worthy of our pause. Stop. Walk. Smell the roses. Appreciate all that this small town offers. Just like so many other rural Minnesota communities.
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NOTE: Watch for more posts from Kenyon as I have many more photos showcasing this southern Minnesota community.
A crew works to protect the Carlson Capital Management building along the east bank of the Cannon River. This is by the “Poem Steps” leading to the Riverwalk, now flooded. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
MANY AREAS OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA, including my county of Rice, have been inundated with torrential rain during the past week. That’s led to flooding of rivers and property and to road closures. Like so many others, I’ve been out and about observing, taking photos.
People gather on the pedestrian bridge and along a sidewalk above the Riverwalk to see flooding along the Cannon River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Saturday evening, on our way home from visiting family in Lakeville, Randy and I drove through Northfield and stopped to walk along the Cannon River. The river runs through the heart of this historic downtown, which features a waterside river walk.
Flooding and sandbagging along the west bank of the Cannon near the Lady Cannon mural.
Sandbag wall on the west side of the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Lady Cannon is nearly swimming in the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
The Cannon has spilled over its banks, flooding the river walk and adjacent land and threatening buildings at water’s edge. Sandbags are in place. Pumping is underway.
People line the pedestrian bridge across the Cannon for a wide perspective of the river and the flooding. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Looking north from the pedestrian bridge to the Second Street/State Highway 19 bridge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Looking south from the pedestrian bridge toward the Water Street bridge by the Ames Mill Dam. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
And people are coming to the river by the hundreds to view its raging power. A pedestrian bridge high above the water offers a unique perspective.
The dam is barely visible by the historic Ames Mill. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Among the many people viewing the river at the dam site. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
And a bridge across the river by the historic Ames Mill provides a close-up view of the Cannon roaring over the dam.
Protecting Carlson Capital Management. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
A maze of hoses channel water out of the Carlson building while sandbags protect it. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 2024)
Froggy Bottoms on the west bank floods whenever the river floods. A neon green poster on the building reads: “This Frog Swims Again.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
It is impressive, all of it. The nauseating movement of the water. The speed. The danger. The feeling of overwhelming respect and awe in the presence of such power.
Fitting words on the door of the Froggy Bottoms building. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
This I felt as I took in the scene unfolding before me on a Saturday evening in Northfield.
A sandbag wall protects property along the west bank of the Cannon River. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
A sandbagging station. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
A line of sandbags protects property on the west bank of the Cannon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
Life jackets drape a barricade blocking access to the flooded east side Riverwalk. Below, workers work to protect the Carlson building from the river. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo June 22, 2024)
NOTE: Check back tomorrow for flood photos from Faribault.
Randy tells me the unpainted condition is intentional, that this is “a thing.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
EVERY TIME I ATTEND a car show, like the Downtown Faribault Car Cruise Night last Friday evening, I discover new details that draw me in for a closer look. Often that means peering inside a vehicle. And often that means asking my automotive machinist husband for information. He’s knowledgeable about anything vehicle-related from under the hood to exterior to interior.
A beautiful vintage car interior. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Because of Randy, I attended my first car show many years ago. Mostly I tagged along, expecting to be bored. But I wasn’t as I viewed the displayed cars and trucks through a creative, rather than an automotive, lens. That’s still my perspective.
Old and new vehicles parked outside Janna’s Market Grill, formerly Bernie’s Restaurant. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Randy sees the whole of a vehicle, verbalizing how he wishes he still had his 64 Chevy, his first car. His mind is like a data bank of information on vehicle makes, models, years, original or not. It’s nice to have an automotive tour guide of sorts while meandering at a car show.
Dice are a popular adornment on vintage cars. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Photographed through a car window, a footprint gas pedal. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
On the hood of a Cobra. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
My enthusiasm heightens when I spot something like a purple die atop a door lock or a footprint-shaped gas pedal. Randy noted some cars also had mini footprint dimmer switches. Who knew? Not me. And when I saw a Cobra emblem, he told me of their rarity.
The car show features a mix of vintage and newer vehicles. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
I appreciate his insights as we wind among the vehicles along three blocks of Faribault’s Central Avenue (we skipped the fourth block) on a lovely mid-July evening in southern Minnesota.
On the former bank building to the left, a ghost sign remains. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Aged buildings flank the avenue, rising high, shadowing the street. I appreciate the architecture of these mostly well-kept buildings in this Historic District. I spot a ghost sign on the Security Bank building.
In the 300 block of Central Avenue, a sports car parks in front of the Paradise Center for the Arts. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
In the window of Good Day Coffee. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Amazing how this windshield opens. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
At the Paradise Center for the Arts, marquee lights are visible in the dusk of day. Directly across the street, the neon of a Coffee sign glows in the window of Good Day Coffee. At 210 Central Avenue, two lights hang above double red doors. I notice them when Randy points to the open windshield of a car. Or maybe it was a truck. I don’t recall. But I’ve never seen anything like that—windshield hinging open.
I heeded this message, exercising extra caution while skirting this car. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
A car with a name, Tootie. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
I always spot interesting stickers on vehicle windows. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Such nuances delight me, hold my interest, draw me to look closely. I notice stickers, license plates, messages to keep my hands off.
A mini model tops a car roof. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Custom detailing on a Chevy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Sports cars join in the Car Cruise. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Attending a car show is about so much more than looking at and admiring vehicles. It’s about viewing the whole from hood to trunk and everything in between, inside and out. It’s about appreciating those who own these vehicles and are willing to share them with the public. It’s about art and history, memories and stories, and if you have a personal tour guide like me, an opportunity to learn.
Cars evolve. So do communities. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
And it’s about community. A coming together. Appreciating each other and this place, Faribault. Sometimes I don’t think long-time residents value our city enough. We need to pause, look up, look around, reflect. See the beauty in the historic buildings and in the people who live here. Respect and celebrate those who call downtown home. Faribault is evolving, growing, changing. Just like the cars at Car Cruise Night.
A lovely lavender car drew my interest against a backdrop of historic buildings in downtown Faribault.(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
ON A JULY EVENING, as the descending sun shone along the tops of historic buildings in downtown Faribault, I paused to take in the scene before me.
Although signage indicated only registered vehicles could park along Central, other vehicles were parked there. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Checking out the vehicles parked along four blocks of Central Avenue. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2022)
Vehicles outside the Signature Bar & Grill, a popular downtown dining and drinking spot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Among the street-side food vendors, El Jefe, outside its downtown restaurant. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Others visited in groups or stopped to purchase food from food trucks or from a downtown restaurant.
Faribault’s Car Cruise Nights continue to draw crowds to Central Avenue. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
I felt the energy, the pulse of people moving, of togetherness. I observed the mingling of cultures, of ages. I sensed a spirit of community which comes in a gathering of people on a lovely summer evening in southern Minnesota. It felt good to be part of this scene.
Vehicles began leaving as the car show wound down. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
I arrived close to 8 pm, nearing the end of an event which began hours earlier with a car cruise around area lakes. Yet, I still found plenty of cars, trucks and motorcycles to appreciate. Some old, others new.
I consider hood ornaments, whether original or added, to be works of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
My approach to Car Cruise Night is not defined by my interest in cars. Rather, it’s defined by art, by my photographic perspective. By my creativity.
I always peer inside vehicles to see what unusual things I’ll discover, here a Smurf theme. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
I always see lots of dice dangling inside vehicles. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
A quilt covers a seat in an old truck. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
I focus on details. Dice. Hood ornaments. Stickers. The gleam of wax-shined chrome. A Smurf. A patchwork quilt covering a truck seat. So much to take in.
A bold, jewel-toned truck drew my eye. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Like a Dreamsicle. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
I appreciate, too, the colors. Some bold. Others as dreamy as a Dreamsicle.
Faribault’s downtown historic district is one of the largest in Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Banners identifying Faribault’s Historic District include a vintage photo. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Flashback to yesteryear in this vintage vehicle. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
And then my eyes shift to the setting. Central Avenue, lined with aged buildings of extraordinary architecture, creates an historic feel, adding to the experience of Car Cruise Night. As I watched an open air vintage car head north along the avenue, it was easy to imagine bygone years.
Not all vehicles are old. These sports cars were part of the cruise, parked near Cardboard Vault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
At street level, I see long-time businesses like the Signature Bar & Grill and Burkhartzmeyer Shoes and many new businesses like Good Day Coffee, El Jefe, Cardboard Vault and more, including the many shops opened by immigrants who now call Faribault home. Today’s diversity of ownership reminds me of yesteryear, when immigrants settled here, opened shoe and furniture factories, brewed beer, ran general stores, set up barber chairs and much more in a town settling and growing.
An historic building is reflected on the shiny chrome of a motorcycle parked along Central for Car Cruise Night. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2022)
Faribault remains a place of settlement and growth. And a place where, on a Friday evening, I glimpse history in buildings and vehicles. I see, too, the essence of community in this cohesive coming together on a lovely summer evening in July.
FYI: Faribault’s next car show is scheduled for 6-9 PM Friday, August 12, during the Blue Collar BBQ Festival at Teepee Tonka Park on the east side along the Straight River.
Please check back for more photos from the July 15 Car Cruise Night I attended in historic downtown Faribault.
The popular bluegrass band, Monroe Crossing, performs at 1:30 pm and 4 pm on July 4 in North Morristown. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2016)
The homemade strawberry pie I ordered at the Pie Stand last Fourth of July. All pies are homemade. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2021)
It’s vintage food stands, homemade pie, old tractors packing the parade, music by Minnesota musicians (like Monroe Crossing), handcrafted kiddie rides and games, BINGO, a patriot program, fireworks and so much more.
One of the many vintage food stands which add to the nostalgic charm of this celebration. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2021)
Kids’ activities are to the left, food and beverage stands to the right and the entertainment stage straight ahead. This event is well-attended. Admission is free, but please purchase a button to help cover costs. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)
Perhaps my column will convince those of you who live in Minnesota to attend the Fourth of July celebration in North Morristown, which is not an actual town. This is simply a place in the middle of farm fields, west of Faribault and north of Morristown. The festival grounds sits across from Trinity Lutheran Church and School and next to farm sites and acreage.
The kiddie rides are homemade and vintage.(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2021)
I’ve attended many times and love the down-home feel of this celebration, which is also a reunion of sorts for those who grew up in this area (which is not me). I recognize many of you, my readers, come to my blog from afar. So please enjoy North Morristown on the Fourth via my images and words.
My husband enjoys his cheeseburger at the North Morristown Fourth of July celebration in 2016. I make no apologies for the grease-stained fingernails of this hardworking automotive machinist. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2016)
Happy Fourth!
TELL ME: How are you celebrating the Fourth of July?
Note: If you have seen my story on newsprint, please view it again online. The paper copy of the magazine has issues with clarity of images, and not just mine. All photos I submitted for publication are sharp, clear and focused, unlike the end printing results.
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