Tag: Prairie Grasses

A Bonfire with a Twist

Two weeks ago we roasted hot dogs over a winter bonfire in River Bend Nature Center. We’ve roasted “many a hot dogs” over the years. It’s fun, and they’re tasty (it’s the only way I’ll eat a hot dog). We’ve also made mini pizzas and apple pies over camp fires in our iron sandwich-maker sticks many times.

Roasting donut holes over a wood fire in a fire pit.

But this past weekend we roasted something over the fire that we have never roasted…we roasted donut holes!

The steeple was renovated on the 1894 white clapboard church.

It was a fundraiser for the Valley Grove Church steeple fund, near Nerstrand. I was intrigued when I learned about this event, so we decided to give it a try.  

When we arrived, there were a couple of fire pits set up for the roasters, metal sticks in a bucket for roasting, and a variety of donut holes to choose from with extra toppings of chocolate dipping sauce and cinnamon and sugar for coating the donut hole after it was roasted. 

Others enjoyed roasting donut holes.

We picked out our donut holes, stuck them on our stick and began roasting. The holes did taste good roasted…nice and warm and toasty. It was a fun and unique idea.

I don’t know the name for these waterfalls…we call it Hidden Falls Two.

Afterward, we hiked one of the prairie trails at Valley Grove, down to Hidden Falls Two. I have not seen much water run over these falls in the past, but on this day there was a full, frozen ice fall.

The tall golden prairie grass and bright blue sky.

We enjoyed the blue skies and prairie grass, and I always love seeing the two historic churches and cemetery on the hill.

Valley Grove Churches: The stone church was built in 1862 and the white clapboard church was built in 1894.

November Prairie

Walking through the prairie, on a cool November morning, was glorious.

The sky was interesting… blue patches in one direction, dark clouds in the other direction, with the sun trying to peek beyond the clouds.

We walked through the quaint cemetery at Valley Grove that leads to the prairie trails. We hiked the mown trails through tall grasses, stunningly gold in color, and as tall as us, in most areas.

We took the trail that leads down to the border of Big Woods State Park. As we walked along the edge of the park, it started to drizzle and I could hear the droplets landing on the dried leaves of the forest floor. It was a lovely sound.

Then the raindrops became heavier and we found ourselves walking in the rain…but only for a little while (and it was quite pleasant walking in the rain). The rain quickly stopped and soon the sun was breaking through in full force, and by afternoon the sky was cloudless.

We were in awe of the beauty of the golden grass on the prairie, with a slight wave in the wind, against different backdrops: two historic churches, the cospe of white birch trees, the state park and surrounding horizon.

We found our way to Hidden Falls 2 (for lack of a better name). The creek bed was dry and the water over the falls had frozen in place, into an immobile cascade. It seemed like time was standing still – until next spring, I guess. But, it too, had it’s own beauty.  

Frozen!

We had the area to ourselves…no evidence of people or animals…and we continued to hike this on this splendid property maintained by The Valley Grove Preservation Society. I’m grateful for their work on behalf of this magnificent section of a Minnesota prairie.

A mown path through tall prairie grass, that doesn’t look so tall in the photo.
This is the corner of the Valley Grove cemetery where the beloved Old Oak Tree stood for 200 years, and was blown over during the 2018 tornado.

We were happy to get some fresh air and exercise before heading to downtown Northfield to support “Small Business Saturday”, where we did finish our Christmas shopping that afternoon…in the sunshine.