I stopped at my friends Moses and Cynthia’s house yesterday, and Moses brought me to his sunflower garden and cut me some flowers. You need a man to cut certain sunflowers. I can’t see Martha Stewart delicately clipping this monstrous beauty from its stem:
Moses approached the eight-foot-tall stalk of the sunflower until his body almost touched it. He placed his knife’s blade against the curved stem just under the bowed head and then, turning his face away (he couldn’t look, it seemed) he lopped the thing off at the neck. Then, after gazing down at its face for a moment, he handed it to me carefully. I was astonished at its weight.
This is Moses’ hard time. He’s sowed and nurtured and protected these acres of sunflowers for a lifetime (four months for the average sunflower), but now the nights are getting cold and their days are numbered. It was quite amazing, yesterday, under a darkening sky, with the trees all skeletal now and the air crisp and chilly, to see these brilliant yellow blooms still aglow. The leaves under our feet crackled, dead and dry.
Moses cut me some more and helped me put them in my car. The sunflowers stalk pictured below was so tall that it had to ride in the passenger seat next to me, the bottom of its stem on the floor, the top blossoms grazing the roof. I had to cut it down to make it stand in the vase:
It’s not a long drive from the sunflower farm to my house, but halfway home, I became aware of a strange music. It was all around me. I looked up and saw that a bee was humming and bouncing against the roof of the car. Another – no two, actually three – were buzzing around my windshield.There was one on my leg.I was driving.I could hear that at least one was bouncing against my rear window. I was carpooling bees. I opened the windows and drove really fast, hoping they’d be sucked out by the wind. They were not. I stopped the car and jumped out and tried to swat them out with a shoe. Moses got to see, yesterday, that my car is filled with shoes. Sometime I’ll show you all the inside of my car. It’s nice to have a car full of shoes when you have a car full of bees. Well, I got one or two to leave, but then had to drive home. I turned on the AC, as I know that bees get sluggish when they’re cold. These bees were not really looking to sting me, I just had to be careful to not accidentally touch one.
Finally we arrived home, and, soon after I entered the house, I noticed the dogs leaping into the air and snapping at something. I knew it was bees. The dogs have all been stung biting bees, but they still try to bite them.
Before too terribly long, all bees were swatted out of the house and the flowers were arranged. I love the color of this blossom:
And this:
And these tall stalks look nice against the window, their round, fuzzy heads peering out:
And here’s a poem for Moses and for those who have shared this week about their dark times, which I hope, have now passed. I know some of you hate poems. Try reading this one out loud. You’ll feel the poem in a different way.
In A Dark Time
by Theodore Roethke
In a dark time, the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;
I hear my echo in the echoing wood–
A lord of nature weeping to a tree,
I live between the heron and the wren,
Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den.
What’s madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day’s on fire!
I know the purity of pure despair,
My shadow pinned against a sweating wall,
That place among the rocks–is it a cave,
Or winding path? The edge is what I have.
A steady storm of correspondences!
A night flowing with birds, a ragged moon,
And in broad day the midnight come again!
A man goes far to find out what he is–
Death of the self in a long, tearless night,
All natural shapes blazing unnatural light.
Dark,dark my light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?
A fallen man, I climb out of my fear.
The mind enters itself, and God the mind,
And one is One, free in the tearing wind.
Wow, just look at those sunflowers, would you? As I’ve said before, sunflowers are my favorite, and I’m unable to grow anything that needs lots of sun, as I live in a very wooded area.
I’m amazed they can be that huge. My sister in law grows lovely ones, much smaller than those.
That is a nice poem, love the way the words were put together, though dark, there’s hope!
: )
I love the colors of those flowers. I have a very “pale green” thumb and I admire anyone who can nurture and grow such beautiful flowers. Lovely pictures…thank you again for sharing them.
Such a bittersweet time of year here in New England..and you captured it with the help of the sunflowers, Ann. My day always starts out with a visit to your blog and I am never disappointed! (poems and animals should continue, livened by Guadelupe’s videos of laughing babies!)
We do not get a fall until maybe late November… I envy that you already are feeling the cool crisp air. We have FINALLY beeen blessed with rain, glorious rain. It is amazing how fast the trees and grasses turn to Emarald City green instantly after a rain.
I love the sunflowers and the precise loving care that Moses gives them. I wonder if I can grow them like that, here in Texas, if they could withstand the heat of summer?
You are so fortunate to be able to share Moses “family” with yours.
“A fallen man, I climb out of my fear.
The mind enters itself, and God the mind,
And one is One, free in the tearing wind.”
What stunning poetry. I have never read Roethke prior to participation on this blog and I am so pleased to have discovered him through you. I have known people who derived strength and comfort from their love of literature or other art forms. It is a deeply emotional and enlightening path through dark times. Thank you for the poem.
Gloria
Look at those gorgeous sunflowers! The big one is HUGE. You are very brave, I’d have freaked out if there were bees flying around in the car I’m driving.
Moses will have the sunflowers blooming again in no time. He has transformed sunflowers into passion. With his hard work they are a force of nature, lighting up any room. I wonder of all flowers why the love affair with sunflowers. Probably because they are big and brilliant, with wide open faces that disguise nothing.
Gloria
Ann:
What does your friend Moses use as fertilizer, soil enhancer for the growing of such lovely sunflowers??. I am really curious. I mean, the plants are tall and the flowers are beautiful. Also, can you eat the seeds?.
If this is too much, Moses can/could direct me to a link of how-to as he is certainly an expert.
Today I went to Walmart !!! which for some reason appealed to me. Something about the holidays a’coming and people getting into the mood, bad economy and all!. It was a bit crowded (Ladi Di’s words..) but not in that sense and I left after just a little while.
It is lovely weather here and I am going to continue my walk in just a little while. I remember New England, and ‘it’ getting dark early and stuff.
I could not find the video of the stiffed knee walking-person.
Dear Ann,
Thank you SO MUCH for your wonderful posts! I have been buried in work the past few days and the Don Knotts mention (I loved him as a kid, too—but never a crush!),today’s amazing sunflowers(I had no idea there were so many different faces!) and the beautiful Roethke poem all serve to remind me that the world will still be waiting for me in all its infinite variety when I finish my slog! AND—Lupe’s back!!!!
Thanks again—your blog has cheered and encouraged me!
Lynne
I didn’t know that sunflowers can look like mums, how cool!
Sorry, had to take a break there and grab something from the puppy’s mouth. Sigh, still teething.
I thought of you today Ann, I was at a fundraiser for Vinceremos, the horseback center for the handicapped. We had a Harvest Fest with pony rides, games and crafts. But while October is a lovely, albeit bittersweet time in New England, here in South Florida it was 95 degrees.
Please take pictures when the leaves change. It’s one of the things I miss the most.
I can imagine it’s hard for Moses. He’s spent so long nurturing the sunflowers, and now it’s time for a final harvest. The pictures are stunning. The first one is like a huge pie.
I didn’t know there were so many varieties. The second one looks like a Gaillardia flower. The third looks so feathery, like it would be soft to the touch.
I can just see you driving along in you Bzzzzzz/shoe mobile! lololol I’m very glad you weren’t stung, I would have been screaming and shrieking, swerving all over the road. But I have to ask, why is your car full of shoes???? So that you’re ready for any occasion? Do you leave the house with shoes on, but when you come home forget them in the car? Are there all types; dress shoes, sneakers, flip flops, boots, etc? I’m sorry, but now I’m fixated on the shoe mobile. Please post picture soon so I can stop obsessing.
The poem is beautiful. While I’m not sure that I completely ‘get’ it, I love the way the words sound. (Yes I read it aloud as you suggested.)
Remember how I mentioned alpacas the other day? Well I got to see 2 yesterday! There was a festival in a nearby town and I was there to help at a table for the food pantry where I volunteer. One of the nearby alpaca farms was there with a young male and female. Oh my gosh, they are so soft!!!!! His wife knits and crochets these beautiful hats, scarves, gloves, etc with the incredibly soft and warm alpaca yarn. I took their card, and my friend and his wife and kids and I are going to call the farm to go and visit to see all of their alpacas. So it that was a nice surprise.
Ok, off to Ivy Hill to help with my second riding lesson and to see Kayden, my horse boyfriend. Even if I’m not working with him I still spend time with him because I’m head over heels in love with him!
Have a wonderful day everyone! It’s gorgeous here in PA today.
The sunflowers are so beautiful.
I’m sure we are all wondering why do you have a car full of shoes?
I do admit to having about 200 pairs in my closet piled up very high. I go all Holly Go Lightly when I try to find a pair and pitch them to and fro until I find the right one and then of course the mate is missing… which takes yet more time to find. At this point I am about to be late so
all the shoes are heaved back into the closet in disarray to create the same problem at a future date.
I LOVE sunflowers! You have so many great ones, I can just image Moses’ property — has your daughter taken any photos of his place?
Ok, I realized that saying I have a horse boyfriend probably makes me sound like a wacko. lolol It’s just that Kayden is really special. I’ve groomed and/or led in lessons 3 other horses, and none of them have touched my heart the way he has. He has the most gentle soul and nature. He’s the most relaxed during grooming and during the lessons. I think it’s also because my hearts breaks for him because of his cribbing problem. It’s a compulsive behavior, an addiction, and they can’t do anything about it except modify his stall as much as they can and keep a cribbing muzzle on him when he’s in the pasture.
I’m hoping that when I start riding lessons that he’s the horse I can learn on.
So I’m not a sicko, just smitten with a beautiful Thoroughbred!
What a wonderful line in that poem – “What’s madness but nobility of soul at odds with circumstance?” Wow. Blew me away.
Does Moses sell the sunflower seeds for planting? He has so many wonderful varieties, not your everday roadside flowers. At least in Texas! Oh – please tell him that you have many friends who would love to learn his ways. So inspiring.
How pretty
I cant grow crap
I’m not sure what kind of fertilizer Moses uses and he doesn’t ever comment here. I’m not sure he knows that you can comment. But I know he uses “Bobex” which I believe is some kind of bobcat urine. The farm where he keeps his sunflowers is an organic vegetable farm so he can only use natural, organic fertilizers and repellents.
About the shoes in the car. First, there will be no shoes in the car. Then I will be dressed for a meeting in the city but will throw in sneakers for tennis later. The city shoes stay in car after I change for tennis. Other times I throw in riding boots. SOmetimes I get a pedicure and bring flip-flops and the riding boots I was wearing stay in the car. Sometimes I am wearing shoes and it’s hot, so I take them off and throw them in the back and drive barefoot, which I love to do. All shoes go in, but few come out. So I have a car FILLED with shoes. Now, most mornings, I walk barefoot over our cold gravel driveway, and, once I’m in the car, I pick out a pair of shoes and drive off.
Ok Imelda, er Kathy. 200 pairs????? OMG! lololol
Tammy, I love you, you are so brutally honest.
Ann, forgot to say that the sunflower ‘pie’ that you have will enable you to plant your own sunflowers next year. And how did the cougar urine work for you?
aww thanks tracy. you are just too sweet
Geez, the heads on those are huge! Almost human like but sort of alien looking. Do they become alive in the dark of night & are responsible for running around corn fields making those bizarre designs that you can see from an airplane?
I realized this weekend how much I rely on Ann’s blog now. Feeling connected to all of you lovely people is a true bright spot in my day. This realization came after not being on my computer for a few days due to un-fun stuff taking up my time. I’m now caught up!
LOL Tammy (I can’t grow crap either).
Gloria, I HATE going to my GYN. I hate it when the doctor says “Scoot down some more” when I already feel like my coochie is in Florida. Then I can’t help feeling like I’m a turkey on Thanksgiving (you know, when you yank the legs apart and go fishing around for the innards.) On a more serious note, I was very sorry to read about your friend with cancer. It is bad enough to go through the cancer battle, but when it is a brain tumor that alters ones personality, it is so heartbreaking to watch. My thoughts are with you and your friend.
Tracy, again and again you inspire me!
Ann, thank you for creating and maintaining this forum where we all gather. It is such a gift. Also, as I reach the halfway point in this writing class I’m taking, I just have to say you are so talented!! It is so hard to write well. I read my stuff and the stuff of the other students and we are all so hopelessly mediocre – ha. You are a true author and I really admire that. And finally, kudos on the Youtube clips. Terri Garr is one of my faves and I LOVE Gene Hackman. And we’ll never see the likes of Don Knotts again. Genius.
Beautiful Sunflower…Its so big, reminds me of the ginormous Cabbages grown here and on display at the Alaska State Fair…
As far as the bees, I would have left the car and taken a cab home…I have been known to jump out of my car at an intersection due to just one bee in the car…
I don’t like bees at all…
i too am wondering about the car full of shoes…i personally have a car full of sweaters~~~now we must find the person with the car full of pants and we will be in business!!
loved the sunflowers…gorgeous and spirit lifting to see. i fear our summer is going straight into fall where i live. thanks for sharing the beauty and the words