Here Come the Sunflowers

Repeating the success of last summer, a local realty group has teamed with a local farm and planted a field of dreams - with sunflowers.

 

 
Last year’s sunflowers brought much joy to the local community, worn down and weary of the pandemic’s impact on summer - in the sunflower field, we could all enjoy being outside with plenty of space in the midst of these happy blooms. It was the end of August, a time of transition and potential hope that the Fall would usher in better days. The sunflowers buoyed those hopes.

 

 
This year’s field, while larger, is located to the north of town and was planted earlier so the sunflowers are peaking in July vs at the end of August. Or, maybe last year’s field was planted late; I found it more enjoyable to visit in the cooler August weather than mid July’s heat and humidity.

 

 
My visit this year happened on a morning right after a torrential overnight rain. Can you say streams of mud and standing water everywhere? Still, the massive field provided that same magical sense being enveloped and safe in something bigger than our own sphere of life. The flowers teemed with bees and pollinators, all doing nature’s great work.

 

 
Since my visit in mid July, the weather has turned downright delightful, giving us cooler and drier conditions to enjoy, which means more people will visit the sunflower field.

 

 
Bonus - I caught this engagement photo session during my visit. What troopers - it was early Sunday morning in the heat and humidity. I shot this behind the scenes photo.