More Than a Walk
There is a particular kind of quiet that comes with a fall morning in Owatonna.
The air is crisp enough to feel against your cheeks. Leaves rustle as a soft breeze moves through the trees. Somewhere nearby, a bird breaks into song. The sun finds its way through the branches and for a few minutes, there is nowhere else you need to be.
For Ina and Kathy, moments like these are part of what makes getting outside at Benedictine Living Community-Owatonna worth looking forward to. Sometimes there is wildlife to watch. Sometimes there is someone to talk with. Sometimes the best part is simply feeling the sunshine and breathing in that unmistakable smell of fall. And sometimes, if you are lucky, nature provides a story.
Ina has seen deer and squirrels along the way. She has even encountered a skunk, the sort of sighting that makes an ordinary afternoon a little more memorable. But some of her favorite time outside is spent with her son. There is something wonderfully ordinary about that. A mother and son. A walk outside. Time to talk without needing an occasion or a reason. Those are the moments that can be easy to overlook until something makes them harder to have.
A newly refurbished walking path at Benedictine Owatonna is helping make those moments easier to enjoy. With support from the Owatonna Foundation, the path was improved to create a smoother, more accessible outdoor route for residents.Ask Ina what she thinks of the improved path and she does not need many words. “Marvelous.”
Kathy has her own memories tied to the outdoors here. When she first came to Benedictine Owatonna, she remembers seeing cranes near the wetlands. It is the kind of image that stays with you: those tall birds against the water, a little piece of the natural world carrying on just beyond the windows.Now there are changing seasons to notice, familiar views to revisit and new things to catch your eye along the way.That may be what is most meaningful about a walking path.
Most of us rarely think about the path beneath our feet. We think about where it leads. From the shade of a tree to the sound of birds, to a patch of warm afternoon, to a son walking beside his mother, to a friend who has a little more time to talk. A path is concrete and pavement. But what happens along it is something else entirely. For Ina and Kathy, it can mean deciding that today is a good day to go outside and then simply going. That freedom to choose matters. So does being part of a community where people recognize that something as practical as improving a walking path can ripple outward into hundreds of small moments that no construction plan could ever capture.
That is where the Owatonna Foundation enters this story. Its support helped make the path improvements possible. The Foundation’s investment became something residents can experience rather than something measured only in dollars: another afternoon outdoors, another conversation, another chance to notice the seasons changing in Steele County. Ina has a simple message for the people who make projects like this possible. “Keep it up.” There is something very Owatonna about that answer.
This is a community where people have long understood the value of looking out for one another. Sometimes that means showing up for a neighbor. Sometimes it means supporting a local organization. Sometimes it means making an improvement today knowing someone else may benefit from it tomorrow. And sometimes the result is almost too small to notice. A bird sings. A breeze moves through the trees. A mother spends a little more time outside with her son. And an ordinary path becomes part of a very good day.
Benedictine Foundation-Owatonna supports programs, equipment, activities and improvements that benefit residents beyond what can be provided through the regular operating budget. Support comes from individuals and families as well as memorial and tribute gifts, businesses, grants and community partnerships.
To learn more about supporting local seniors through the Benedictine Foundation-Owatonna or serving on its Foundation Board, contact Bethany Tjornhom.