Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Focus on compassion & thankfulness this Thanksgiving week November 26, 2025

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Jesus multiplied two fish into enough to feed 5,000 people. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

“THE SMALL LITTLE LUNCH became more than enough.” That statement, made during the Rev. Bruce Stam’s sermon at Trinity Lutheran Church in Faribault on Sunday morning, really resonates with me in this week of thanksgiving.

Stam was referencing the feeding of the five thousand as recorded in all four gospels and specifically in John 6:1-13. In that story, Jesus and his disciples are faced with a hungry crowd and nothing to feed them. That is until Andrew notices a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish or, as Stam termed it, “a happy meal.” I laughed. I appreciate humor in sermons.

I expect the disciples were not laughing, but rather were highly-skeptical when Jesus suggested that the boy’s meager meal could feed thousands. I would feel that way, too. But Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks and there was enough to feed everyone. With leftovers.

A Thanksgiving week message outside Faribault Church of Christ. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2025)

There are several takeaways from this miracle of feeding 5,000 people. First, God provides. That’s clear and Stam emphasized that point. In my own life, I’ve seen God provide again and again to meet my needs whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. I live in a house that is paid for. I have enough to eat. I have loving and supportive family and friends. I’ve had excellent healthcare. The list goes on and on. It’s not that I have the biggest, best or most. But I have enough.

And on that referenced day during biblical times, there was enough bread and fish in a small boy’s lunch to miraculously feed thousands. Jesus, the Rev. Stam said, opened his heart to compassion and fed the hungry.

As I jotted sermon notes, I began to better understand how Jesus taught compassion on that day. He could have ignored the hungry crowd, although that may have been a bit difficult to do given the sheer numbers. Rather, Jesus fed them. His disciples handed out the bread and fish and gathered the leftovers. They were learning an important lesson in compassion as active participants in a compassionate and caring act.

A kindness rock photographed among plants in the Waterville Community Patio. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

Just like the disciples, we are each capable of compassion, of giving to others. Perhaps we only have a happy meal to share. Or maybe we have an entire Thanksgiving feast to offer. I’m speaking figuratively here. The point is that, as the Rev. Stam said, this world needs compassionate love. And we can give that through monetary and food donations, volunteerism, kindness, anything really that shows care and love for our fellow human beings.

Finally, in the biblical feeding of the five thousand, two other words resonate with me. And those are “gave thanks.” Jesus gave thanks when he took the loaves and fish and then multiplied them. This week “thanks” is the focus, or should be the focus, of our thoughts.

Thank you to the readers who sent these cards to me. Your kindness touched me. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2025)

I am thankful for you, dear readers. I am thankful for everyone who tells me how much they appreciate my writing and photography. I am thankful for my family, especially the birth of my second grandson in January. I am thankful for time spent at a family lake cabin. I am thankful for freedom of speech. I am thankful for a locally strong arts scene. I am thankful for friends, those who are long-time and those I’ve only just met. I am thankful for too many reasons to count…

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May you always be blessed with “enough” and with a heart of compassion.

TELL ME: What are you especially thankful for this Thanksgiving?

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Feeling especially grateful this Thanksgiving November 27, 2024

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I created this Thanksgiving display in a stoneware bowl. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

GRATITUDE. It’s a word that gets tossed around a lot this week as we observe Thanksgiving. And that’s good as we all need to pause, reflect and focus on reasons to feel thankful.

Health and family often top that list. And I’m staying in that lane of feeling especially grateful this year for restoration of my health and for my dear family—my husband, three adult children, two grandchildren and sons-in-law. And the soon-to-be-born second grandson.

This map shows the geographical distance separating my family. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

While my core family is scattered from Boston to eastern Wisconsin to Minnesota, we are never far apart, thanks to smartphones. So, yes, this mom and grandma, who once lived in the days of no phone service (not even a landline) and of typewriters, is especially grateful for technology that allows us to stay easily connected.

Still, that does not make up for in-person time together as a family. It doesn’t happen often that we are together. But in August, we were. All of us. For the annual Helbling family reunion. If ever my mama’s heart was full and happy, it was then. The son actually spent several weeks in Minnesota after flying in from Boston for the international unicycling convention in Bemidji and then staying until the reunion. To have that lengthy time with him, whom I typically only see at Christmas, was beyond wonderful. Technology allowed this extended stay as he could work remotely, although he did complain about my slow internet speed.

A sampling of some of the exercises I did while in vestibular rehab therapy at Courage Kenny, Faribault, from April to September 2023. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2023)

And then there’s my health. This past year marked the year I reclaimed my life after spending 2023 dealing with issues caused by long haul COVID. I spent six months in vestibular rehab therapy to retrain my brain. I learned to feel comfortable walking without feeling unbalanced. I learned to manage sensory overload (which remains a residual problem). And much more. I shall be forever grateful to my healthcare team, specifically my physical therapist Ryan, and my family for getting me through an incredibly difficult health challenge. My symptoms were debilitating. Few understood then and few understand now what I experienced.

But because of that experience, I’ve been able to encourage and support others who are in the throes of debilitating long haul COVID. I understand. I empathize. And my compassion for them runs deep. This is real and life-changing.

Information about the eye muscle surgery I underwent in Minneapolis under the care of a neuro ophthalmologist. I had this same surgery performed at age four. These are my pre-surgery eyeglasses, without mega prisms. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2023)

In January, I underwent bilateral strabismus surgery to realign my eyes. Although that surgery failed (as it does up to 20 percent of the time), I remain grateful for one thing—my vision. It’s certainly far from perfect. I still see double if I’m not wearing my prism-heavy prescription eyeglasses. I struggle to tell if photos I am taking or processing are clear. But the bottom line is that I can see. And that is reason to feel grateful. I. Can. See.

This tag of reasons to feel grateful hung on a Gratitude Tree outside the Northfield Public Library in 2019. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

In all of the challenges of life, reasons exist to feel thankful. It’s easy enough to fall into complacency and take good health, family, friends and life in general for granted. Don’t. None of those are a given. No matter what, we can choose to feel grateful, even in the midst of struggles. Something positive can come from negative. Life brims with reasons to feel grateful. I am.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers! I am grateful for all of you, for your support, for your friendship, for the light you shine in my life.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

With gratitude for my southern Minnesota community November 25, 2024

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I photographed this tag hanging on The Gratitude Tree in the neighboring city of Northfield in 2019. I love this idea of publicly expressing thankfulness, including for community. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2019)

WHEN CONSIDERING GRATITUDE, as we do this week, we usually look inward. But I want to look outward and share six reasons why I feel grateful to live in Faribault.

This is my all-time favorite image showing local diversity. Here children gather to break a pinata during an international festival at Faribault’s Central Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2012)

PEOPLE make a community. I knew no one when I moved here as a newlywed in 1982. But I was welcomed and have since formed deep friendships in Faribault. I can walk into a business, attend an event, or simply be out and about and run into someone who knows me. Conversation often follows.

Recently I attended a 75th anniversary open house at Burkhartzmeyer Shoes, a third-generation family owned shoe store in downtown Faribault. After purchasing athletic shoes, I headed to a back room for complimentary refreshments. A small group of us sat there talking and laughing, simply enjoying each other’s company. I felt like I was inside a small town cafe drinking coffee and conversing. It felt that down-home comfortable.

But I can feel just as comfortable with strangers, including Adolfo, whom I met in October while walking in Central Park. Adolfo moved to America from Venezuela, a country he fled because of Communism and violence. On this morning, he was pushing his one-year-old grandson in a stroller. It’s part of their daily routine. Darling Milan drew me to his grandpa, where I connected with Adolfo on a personal level and heard his story. I feel grateful for every opportunity I have to meet Faribault’s newest immigrants and hear their stories, stories often laced with hardship and hope. To live in a city as diverse as Faribault is truly a gift.

Kids help at the Faribault CommUnity Thanksgiving Dinner by, among other things, creating festive placemats. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2017)

Faribault overflows with CARING INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS striving to help others: the Community Action Center, Rice County Habitat for Humanity, St. Vincent de Paul, HOPE Center, Ruth’s House, IRIS (Infants Remembered in Silence), the Salvation Army, Operation: 23 to 0… I’ve received support while dealing with some especially challenging life events. When you experience that community love and care first-hand, you understand the true meaning of community.

Once again this Thanksgiving, volunteers will serve a free CommUnity Thanksgiving Dinner as they have for the past 30 some years. I’ve previously helped deliver those holiday meals. Every Tuesday, a free meal is also available at the Community Cafe. With Christmas approaching, I’m part of a bible study group coordinating the annual Angel Tree (gift giving) at my church. I could go on and on with an endless list of how people are helping people in my community. Hearts are loving, spirits giving.

A 1950s scene along Faribault’s Central Avenue is shown in this downtown mural. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I am especially grateful to live in a community which values THE ARTS. The Paradise Center for the Arts in downtown Faribault centers our arts scene. Every time I tour a gallery exhibit, attend a play or otherwise engage in the arts, I feel grateful to live here. I’ve even contributed to the local arts scene by publicly reading my poetry. I love attending summer concerts in the park and concerts inside the historic Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour. I appreciate the history-based murals that color our downtown. I grew up in rural southwestern Minnesota with minimal access to the arts, meaning my gratitude for the arts in Faribault runs deep.

I treasure Buckham Memorial Library, just blocks from my home. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2022)

My thankfulness for BUCKHAM MEMORIAL LIBRARY also runs deep, for the very same reason. I grew up in a small farming town without a library. And I love to read. That we now also have a volunteer run used bookstore, Books on Central (benefitting the Rice County Area United Way), notches my gratitude level even higher.

A snippet of Faribault’s historic buildings, photographed during a monthly Car Cruise Night. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2016)

The bookshop is located in the heart of our HISTORIC DOWNTOWN, another reason I feel grateful to live in Faribault. My community cares about preserving historic buildings. I love old architecture. There’s nothing quite like walking among vintage vehicles along Central Avenue during Car Cruise Night as the sun sets at the end of a summer day. Beautiful.

In just minutes, I can reach the countryside, where I love to travel gravel roads. This road winds among the lakes and farm fields west of Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo October 2022)

Faribault also offers incredible NATURAL BEAUTY in a diverse landscape of woods and prairie, hills and valleys, ravines and bluffs. It’s so different than my native prairie. Admittedly, it took me a while to “get used to” all the trees when I moved here 42 years ago. I still mostly have no sense of direction on roads and streets that don’t run prairie grid straight. But I love to walk through city parks, along city trails, at River Bend Nature Center, on the campus of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf… And within a short drive of my home, I am immersed in the countryside.

A view of The Gratitude Tree outside the Northfield Public Library in 2021. People wrote their reasons for feeling thankful on a blank tag. Those were then hung on the tree. I’d like to see a Gratitude Tree in every community once a year. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo May 2021)

This list of a half dozen reasons to feel thankful for the place I call home just touches the surface of why I am grateful to live in Faribault. It’s not utopia, certainly. Nowhere is. But today I want to pause, consider and acknowledge specific reasons for feeling thankful that Faribault is my home. I hope you’ll do the same, wherever you live.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

With a thankful heart on Thanksgiving November 22, 2023

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A seasonal bulletin board at Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2023)

WHEREVER YOU ARE on Thanksgiving, whomever you celebrate with, or don’t, I hope your day overflows with gratitude.

A full view of that festive church bulletin board. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2023)

Thursday marks a day to reflect. We all have reasons to give thanks, ranging from the material to the more important non-material. Family tops that list for me. There’s nothing better than to be with those we love most. This year that will include all in my immediate family except my son, who flies back to Minnesota from Boston in mid-December for a holiday stay. Unfortunately his sister and her husband, who are coming for Thanksgiving, won’t be here at Christmas. I haven’t seen any of them in a year and I miss them so much my heart hurts.

But, if I’ve learned anything through these empty-nester years, it’s that I need to savor the times I do have with my adult children rather than bemoan the holidays without them. I feel thankful to have at least one of my three—the eldest daughter, her husband and my grandchildren—still living in Minnesota.

We will gather around the table on Thanksgiving, ever grateful for each other.

I created this display in a stoneware bowl on a previous Thanksgiving. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Likewise, I am grateful for you, my readers. I’ve felt the love this year through my difficult health struggles. In all the chaos in this world, goodness remains. Strong. Bold. Shining. And for that I have every reason to feel thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Gratitude beyond Thanksgiving November 21, 2023

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Reasons to feel thankful, hung on a Gratitude Tree at the Northfield Public Library. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2019)

A SOLITARY TEAR TRICKLED down my left cheek as I struggled to hold back my emotions. I willed myself not to burst out sobbing in the quiet of the sanctuary, in the profoundness of his story.

He was nine years old, the pastor said, when a vision screening showed he needed prescription eyeglasses, an expense his parents could not afford. Yet, they found a way. His father sold his treasured guitar to pay for the $25 eyeglasses. Twenty years later, the son realized, understood, the sacrifice his dad made for him. And he thanked him. That simple thank you forever changed their relationship.

The Rev. Bruce Stam shared this personal story as he preached on gratitude just days before Thanksgiving. And it was his story which got me thinking about my own eyes and how, as a four-year-old, I underwent corrective eye surgery to realign my crossed eyes. I, of course, was too young to understand the financial challenges this presented to my parents. I regret that I never thanked them for the sacrifices they made to keep me from going blind in one eye and then for the prescription eyeglasses I needed to see. Just like the boy who would become a pastor.

Reasons to feel thankful written on feathers of a turkey at Faribault Lutheran School 10 years ago. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2013)

All too often we are blind to seeing the importance of gratitude. Except perhaps on Thanksgiving, our yearly thankfulness reminder. Gratitude does not come easily. We need to work at it, to carry an attitude of gratitude throughout the year. We are more inclined, however, to focus on that which we do not have, on complaining rather than expressing thanks. That’s human nature.

I created this Thanksgiving centerpiece as a reminder to be thankful. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

But we can refocus. Thanksgiving is a good day to start. Sure, we say we’re thankful for family and friends and food and shelter and good health and such. But what does that mean, in a personal way? I’ll start.

I am especially grateful this November for having mostly reclaimed my health following a viral infection in January that affected my brain. This was tough stuff. But I got through it with the help of caring medical professionals and the loving support of my husband and my eldest daughter, especially. Amber checked in with me daily via text, always asking how I was feeling and offering ongoing encouragement. Randy mostly did everything on the home-front besides encouraging me, taking me to medical appointments and reminding me that I was making progress. Their unconditional love and support carried me through some really dark days. I am forever grateful.

Likewise, friends and some extended family did the same. I tried to remember to thank them. But I expect sometimes, in the midst of my neurological issues, I failed.

I love the idea of a public Gratitude Tree, this one at the Northfield Public Library in 2019. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2019)

Thanking someone need not be complicated or extravagant. Heartfelt, loving words spoken, texted or written are often all that is needed. As a writer, I am big on sending greeting cards to express my feelings.

When I graduated from five months of vestibular rehab therapy in mid-September, I knew I needed to do more. I baked homemade carrot cake cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting for the team at Courage Kenny in Faribault. For my therapist, Ryan, I also baked chocolate chip cookies and penned a lengthy thank you. He deserved my deep gratitude for working with me tirelessly to reclaim my life.

Another thankfulness tag on that Gratitude Tree in Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo July 2019)

Opportunities abound to express gratitude in our daily lives. With words. With actions. With a smile. Sometimes understanding the importance of thankfulness comes in a story, a story of sacrifice. A story that touches the emotions, that causes us to see as a single tear slides down our cheek.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Reasons I feel grateful this Thanksgiving November 23, 2021

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Given my love of words, I created this Thanksgiving display with thrift store art purchases and Scrabble letters. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

WITH THANKSGIVING ONLY DAYS AWAY, my thoughts shift to gratitude. I must admit, though, that feeling grateful in the midst of this ongoing global pandemic takes effort. Yet, it’s important, even necessary, that I reflect on my blessings.

Now, I could simply list the usual broad categories most of us would choose as reasons to feel grateful—family, food, faith, health… But hovering a magnifying glass over those words for a close-up look really focuses gratitude.

With that introduction, I am feeling thankful for…

Grandpa and grandchildren follow the pine-edged driveway at a central Minnesota lake cabin. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

My immediate FAMILY circle, including my husband, three grown adult children, two sons-in-law and two grandchildren. I feel grateful for their love and for the last time we were all together in May. Although I yearn to see my out-of-state family more, I’m happy for that spring visit.

The grandchildren, especially, bring joy. Most recently, before temps plummeted into the 20s here in Minnesota, Isabelle, Isaac and I swirled sticks in a mud puddle in our backyard. What a simplistically memorable moment. Later, inside the house, we crafted snow people from paper and birthday cards for their Aunt Miranda. More moments of connecting and bonding and loving.

Time spent at an extended family member’s guest lake cabin this past summer with the eldest daughter and her family rate particularly high on my gratitude list.

The reason the Rare Pair in Northfield gave for wearing face masks early in the pandemic. I love this message. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

HEALTH, mine and that of those I love most, gives me pause for thankfulness. But this year I’m stretching that to include the scientists and researchers who created COVID vaccines and to those in healthcare who strive to keep us healthy and also care for us, whether doctors, nurses, public health officials or others. And to businesses who recognize the importance of COVID mitigation/safety measures (and to the people who follow them).

Along the topic of health, I feel relieved and thankful to now be on MEDICARE. That gives Randy and me affordable healthcare coverage and thus accessibility to healthcare. Paying about $500/month in premiums compared to nearly $1,900/month (with $4,200/each deductibles) lifts a great financial burden.

I photographed my mom’s hands during a visit with her. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

These days my thoughts often turn to my dear mom, 120 miles away in a long-term care center, health failing. I feel overwhelmed by emotion, my heart aching in the missing of her. I last saw her in early July (and not since due to too much COVID in my home county, and now all of Minnesota). Too long.

But I think back to THAT SUMMER VISIT with such gratitude. Per the social worker’s suggestion, I brought along a stash of old family photos. As I held the black-and-white images close to Mom so she could see them through eyes clouded by age, joy blossomed. “That’s my dad,” she said. “That’s me.” And then the moment that brought me to tears. “That’s my husband.” It was a photo of my dad, in his 20s, when he met and married Mom. She recognized him. He’s been gone now nearly 18 years.

If I never see my mom again this side of heaven, I carry that cherished visit with me. The brief period of time when she connected, remembered, celebrated the love of her parents and her husband. Even as she likely forgot within minutes of my departure that I’d visited and shown her those vintage photos. But I realize, still realize, that this is not about me, but about her.

The light, the colors, the water…love this photo of leaves in the Cannon River, Cannon River Wilderness Park, rural Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2021)

NATURE gives me another reason to feel blessed. During these pandemic years, especially, I’ve embraced the natural world with a deepened sense of the peace it brings. River Bend Nature Center in Faribault remains a cherished place to walk through the woods and prairie. To feel the calming effects of the outdoors, of solitude and quiet, and escape from reality. Likewise I feel the same when following a back country gravel road.

Jordyn Brennan’s “Love For All” mural in historic downtown Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

ART continues to hold importance for me. I’m thankful for all creatives. I consider myself among them. That I can create via images and words brings me unlimited satisfaction and joy. I’m thankful for those who value my work.

And I’m grateful for the work of others like Minneapolis artist Jordyn Brennan who crafted Faribault’s newest mural, themed on love. Likewise, I appreciate the efforts of Ramsey County Library in crafting This Was 2020: Minnesotans Write About Pandemics and Social Justice in a Historic Year. To be part of that anthology with my poem, “Funeral During a Pandemic,” is such a gift in that my poetry holds value and can, perhaps, make a difference. Just like love.

An important message posted along a recreational trail in the Atwood Neighborhood of Madison, WI. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2020)

LOVE centers gratitude. I feel grateful for the love of God, the love of my husband and children and grandchildren. The love and support of friends. To love and to give love tops reasons to feel grateful this Thanksgiving. I love, especially, to observe how my grown children love and support one another. My heart overflows with gratitude this Thanksgiving, even during a pandemic.

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TELL ME: What are you feeling especially thankful for right now? Please be specific.

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Promoting community pride & more in Faribault June 7, 2021

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Signage atop the Message Board defines its purpose. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

GRATITUDE. PRIDE. POSSIBILITIES. Those topics theme a new opportunity for locals and others to voice their thoughts on the positives in my community via a public Message Board.

The portable board is currently stationed along the Second Avenue side of Faribault’s Central Park. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

The Faribault Foundation, which aims to promote and enhance the quality of life for the greater Faribault area, recently developed and then crafted a portable public board from wood and fencing and stationed it along Second Avenue NW in Central Park.

Central Park is the backdrop for the Message Board. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

I love this concept of inviting people to ponder, and then post, their Faribault pride, gratitude and hopes for the future of our southern Minnesota city. Too often we hear the complaints, the negatives. This emphasis on the good qualities and the possibilities is much-needed. And appreciated.

Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
A container on the side of the board holds the tags and a Sharpie. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

So what are people writing on the colorful tags wired onto the fence? On the Saturday afternoon I stopped to photograph the Message Board and then leave my thoughts, I counted 23 comments. Among the positives in Faribault—history, River Bend Nature Center, murals, historic buildings, diversity and more.

The Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior sits right across the street from Central Park. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.
Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

As I aimed my camera, I looked across the street toward the historic Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior. In the other direction, I noted the historic Bandshell, where our community gathers on Thursday summer evenings for free concerts in the park. On the side and back of that bandshell are two historic-themed murals. Although I didn’t grow up here, I appreciate Faribault’s rich history and the beautiful old buildings that grace our downtown and other parts of the city.

An iris blooms in a Central Park garden. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2021.
A lovely garden bordered by hosta. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

Then I meandered through the park, admiring the flowerbeds tended by Faribault Gardeners Reaching Out With Service (GROWS). That reminded me just how much I appreciate the natural beauty of Faribault. And also how grateful I am to the Faribault Farmers’ Market vendors who set up here on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the growing season.

Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

Just as many of those vendors grow produce to feed the body, so this new Message Board can grow positivity to feed the spirit. I hope my community embraces this Faribault Foundation project. When we shift our focus to that which is good, to hopes and dreams and gratitude, then the possibilities for this place we call (or called) home are endless.

Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo May 2021.

FYI: The Message Board will be moved to different locations throughout Faribault for greater accessibility and exposure.

TELL ME: Have you seen a similar project? Nearby Northfield has a Gratitude Tree at the public library. I recently featured that in a post.

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Oh, how sweet this dessert from Basilleo’s December 3, 2020

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A popular pizza (and more) restaurant in downtown Faribault, Minnesota.

IT WAS A NICE GESTURE of gratitude. The free wedge of apple dessert pizza boxed in Styrofoam with a note of thanks handwritten in marker atop the cover.

This thankfulness for our patronage expressed by Basilleo’s 2.0, a Faribault pizzeria, impressed me. These are tough times to be in the restaurant and bar business. But yet Tom and Connie, co-owners of this homegrown eatery, took the extra time and effort to connect with customers in a personal way.

Basilleo’s has a long history in my community, tracing back to 1960 when brothers Basil and Leo Burger opened the pizza place. They combined their first names to come up with the catchy business name. Basilleo’s has long been a favorite local source of homemade thin crust pizza. Spicy Italian sausage remains our family’s top choice.

Randy and I last dined at Basilleo’s with friends on a Sunday evening in early March, the day before Minnesota Governor Tim Walz closed bars and restaurants due to COVID-19. We didn’t know then that this would mark our last time eating inside a restaurant in 2020. Yes, the governor later re-opened bars and restaurants, but with limited capacity. We opted out of in-person dining, choosing to occasionally do take-out. Like last Saturday evening, when Randy picked up our ready-to-go Italian sausage pizza at Basilleo’s along with a complementary slice of apple or cherry dessert pizza.

Now, as COVID rages out of control in Minnesota, bars and restaurants are once again closed to in-house drinking, dining and socializing. I think it a wise, and necessary, move from a public health perspective. Now it’s up to those who typically frequent bars and restaurants to continue supporting them via carry-out orders. Complaining that these businesses are closed during a pandemic helps no one. Rather, spending money at these businesses will help them, hopefully, survive.

When Tom and Connie conveyed their gratitude through a simple handwritten message and a free slice of dessert, they made an impression. Their small act of kindness shows they value their customers. And, in these days of COVID-19, I welcome such thoughtfulness.

© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A Thanksgiving of gratitude November 25, 2020

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I created this Thanksgiving centerpiece using a vintage tray, vintage candles, pinecones from friends, shells from Detroit Lake and letters from my 1970s Scrabble game. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

Start each day with a grateful heart.

This Thanksgiving, more than ever, those seem important words to consider and then follow.

I’m thankful to my friend Beth Ann, who back in January, before 2020 evolved into the year of COVID-19, gifted me with a daily gratitude journal. It helped me then, and helps me now, to focus on reasons to feel thankful.

A quick look back to the beginning of the year shows a much different gratitude mindset as I wrote of thankfulness for photos of the grandkids, a handwritten letter, a comment from a blog reader that my images of rural Minnesota calm her, time with friends and more.

On March 7, I wrote, “Grateful for another opportunity to spend time with Mom.” I didn’t know it then, but this would mark the last time I stepped inside her care center room, hugged her, kissed her cheek. My heart hurts now every time I think of Mom. It’s an ache that never leaves, that rises sometimes unexpectedly to the surface in raw emotions. But then I reshift my thinking and consider how grateful I am that Mom is still with us, in the care of kind, caring and compassionate individuals who truly value her.

Shortly after that last in-person early March visit, everything changed. There would be no more visits inside the care center. Life as we once knew it changed due to COVID-19. My gratitude journal reflects that as my writing focused more on thankfulness for beautiful days outdoors, for mask mandates, for a stop at a winery, for country drives. And, more recently, for loved ones recovered from COVID-19, for a day that passes without news of another person I know infected with the virus.

In this year 2020, gratitude takes effort. But it’s still there. And this Thanksgiving, more than any, I feel grateful for my health, for my loved ones, for all the blessings that define my days.

Dear readers, I wish you a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving overflowing with gratitude.

© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Thankful Tuesday: Here’s to you, blue collar workers April 7, 2020

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Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo October 2015, northbound on Interstate 35 with the Minneapolis skyline in the distance. We depend on mechanics and automotive machinists to keep our vehicles running.

 

MONDAY MORNING I PULLED a whiteboard from the closet. And then I started a list. Of everyone and everything I need to pray for daily. The list numbers nine categories already and I expect will continue to grow. Typically I wouldn’t need a written list as I have a good memory. But I find myself needing a recall prompt. And, in some sense, physically grabbing a black marker and writing on a whiteboard helps me.

Last evening I added three more names to the prayers for friends and family category after a sister-in-law asked me to pray for a friend’s son, who is infected with COVID-19, and his young family.

On that prayer list I’ve written thankfulness as a reminder to thank God for the many people—especially in healthcare, emergency response, law enforcement and military—who are on “the frontline” serving others.

 

Randy at work in the automotive machine shop. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

Today, though, I want to focus on thanking essential blue collar workers, those men and women who don’t have the option of working from home. That includes my husband, Randy, an automotive machinist. His employer has taken steps to protect customers and employees. Customers (mostly) are no longer allowed inside the store or inside the shop with doors to both locked. Rather, they must stay outside, call and then await curbside service.

 

The door to the automotive machine shop is now locked and signs posted on social distancing, business hours and new customer services practices.

 

But for Randy, it’s not that easy. He sometimes needs to help customers carry heavy auto parts into the shop so he can perform tasks like turn brake rotors, resurface heads and much more. That means close contact then and as they discuss the needed repair work. I don’t like it. But he reports customers are getting better at social distancing. Still…

Randy is not alone. All across Minnesota and across this nation, automotive machinists and mechanics are working hard to keep vehicles—from tractors to cars to trucks, including semis—running. There’s concern in those garages and shops where employees must drive customers’ vehicles into bays. Imagine stepping into a semi cab driven by an over-the-road trucker who’s traveled who knows where. There’s real fear, with extra precautions needed to clean those cabs and protect the mechanics repairing them. Yesterday I talked to someone with a family semi truck repair business. She’s worried about exposure to COVID-19 and understandably so.

Yet, these hardworking men and women—just like those in grocery stores—continue to work. (And, yes, I’m grateful Randy still has a job.) They work to deliver products, goods and services to us. Thank you, truckers and delivery drivers. Thank you, grocery store employees. Thank you, mechanics, automotive machinists and those working the counters in parts stores. Thank you, all blue collar workers. We need you, and that is evident now, more than ever.

© Copyright 2020 Audrey Kletscher Helbling