Sunflower Fields Forever

Saturday was my get-away day. I didn’t mind getting up at sunrise to drive over the mountains so I would arrive at Hope Field before the crowds hit and the sunlight became too harsh. Hope Field is a vast field planted with sunflowers, just outside the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was open to the public for the weekend, donations accepted as a fundraiser for a local hospital’s fund for uninsured patients.

Already, people were spreading out into the field searching for their very own perfect bundle of sunflowers.

Me – I was happy to meander through the undulating sunflower fields to the far end hunting for perfect pictures. I decided early on that I would not pick any flowers since my arms were full with camera and camera bag and I had forgotten to bring a bucket for picked flowers. This way, I could concentrate on both the beauty of the flowers and the humans who came to admire them. By the time I left, there must have been a few hundred people in the field – young and old, men and women, entire families, college friends, people from all walks of life.

Here, at the corner of Sunflower Avenue and Sun Salutation Boulevard, nature and humans intersect – for purpose and pleasure. Sunflowers provide so much: prolific pollen to honey bees and other insects, seeds, seed oil, winter fodder for animals (silage), biofuel, sunny bouquets, and sheer beauty.

Children were fun to watch – almost swallowed up by the tall sunflowers, some of them played hide-and-seek, others stroked leaves or petals and eagerly helped their parents to pick out their very own flowers.

And the bouquets people gathered! A bounty of gold and green, summer colors harvested as a large, heavy bundle.

And here are the stars of Hope Field in their full glory:

For the second time this week, I had witnessed how nature brought people together sharing awe and admiration: the solar eclipse and this immense field of sunflowers. I left with a big smile and a sense of peacefulness in my heart.

The DP Weekly Photo Challenge: Corner.