Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Nearly noon on Sunday along Second Avenue in Faribault, Minnesota.

IF I COULD TAKE A DAY and tuck it away for safekeeping, to pull out on the dreariest of bone-chilling Minnesota winter days, it would be yesterday.

Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Gorgeous fall colors in a maple tree along Fifth Street Northwest across from Trinity Lutheran Church.

Sunday here in southeastern Minnesota was gloriously beautiful as in blue skies and sunshine and warmth melding with the changing colors of the season.

Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Biking through River Bend Nature Center.

A walk in the woods. A drive in the country. Fishing at the King Mill Dam. Sunday was a day to be cherished.

Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

A deep blue sky provides the backdrop for aged cottonwood trees in River Bend Nature Center, Faribault.

My mom told me a few weeks ago how much she loves this month of cobalt skies. I’ve always felt the same about the skies of autumn.

Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

A leaf from the maple tree in my backyard.

And the hues of the leaves. Do I forget from year to year how lovely are the blazing oranges, the brilliant reds, the subtle browns? Or are the colors sharper, more vibrant, this year?

Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

The sun blazes through cottonwoods in Teepee Tonka Park.

Really, it doesn’t matter. What matters is seeing, and appreciating, the blessedness of autumn.

BONUS PHOTOS:

Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

A black-eyed susan adds a jolt of color to a road ditch at River Bend Nature Center.

Photo by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Prairie grasses have dried to a muted brown at River Bend Nature Center.

This post was written by Audrey Kletscher Helbling and originally published on Minnesota Prairie Roots.

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