Fears and Tears

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. Galileo Galilei, Italian Astronomer (1564-1642)

I have always been fascinated with the sky, during the day; the bright sunshine, the puffy clouds, the blue sky, and during the night; the glimmer of the moon, the sparkling stars and perhaps a glimpse of a far-off planet. The view becomes clearer through the lens of a telescope. Things were always there, but invisible to the naked eye. It makes me feel small and dependent and struck with a feeling of awe and wonder.

I have loved the sunflower, it is a flower that seems to radiate joy and happiness, and it follows the sun. I was driving around town a couple of years ago, and noticed a field of sunflowers. I ended up going back a couple of days later and found some wonderful and unexpected things there.

The field was planted by a local man who opened it up to the community to visit, take pictures, and spend time there. As I walked around the field, I found some unexpected things. One of the props that he had in the field was an International Scout. This brought a smile to my face, and the memories were alive in my mind of my childhood spent in a scout four wheeling in the rocky mountains with my family and the amazing views I witnessed. Another prop was a tractor, which stirred memories of my grandfather’s farm, where I would climb and play on the tractors in the huge garage.

This was truly a magical place, where there was wrapping paper, twine and trimmers to take home some sunflowers and an ice cream truck to have a cool treat. What a special gift I felt I was being given, and I was very thankful to be able to experience it.

Over the years, this man has expanded his planting of sunflower fields to other communities, and each place has a story unique to itself. One such field was planted in our town this year to tell the story of the gift of life through living organ donation. It is touching and a moving experience to hear the personal stories of people in my community and to witness the beauty of the sunflowers that adorn the nearby field.

This past weekend, I visited the sunflower field about ten miles away from my house that is dedicated to the community that experienced a tragedy last February in a medical clinic shooting. The feeling I experienced as I walked up was surreal; the flowers were in full bloom, very tall and faced the clinic. They are a vivid, bright yellow color with a few white and red flowers mixed in. There is a path around the sunflower field in a shape of a heart. There are some areas marked off with wildflowers and prairie land with sprinkling of purple in them. The field is on private land that has been opened up to the public to visit. It is an incredible blessing to have been able to visit this special place.

I felt the peace of the field, I felt the love of the field, and I felt the hope of the field that just like the sunflower, follows the sun, and that is a beautiful gift to be shared by all. Thank you #Fishsunflowers for your love and dedication that you pour into the communities where you plant the seed of the sunflower, which blooms and spreads itself out in abundance, stretching up in brilliance to the light.