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Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Hello & Goodbye

Helianthus annuus - 28 August 2026

 

Traditionally my daughter Alexandra brings me sunflowers ( Helianthus annuus) from her Lillooet garden. I would usually put the tall flowers in my lane garden. When Rosemary would look at them she would smile.

With Rosemary gone Ale (pronounced Ah-leh) has been a bit spotty about this tradition. This year she brought me a plant in a large pot and I left it in my deck garden so I could be cheered up with its warm yellow colour. The bloom here is, I believe the last one for its season. I was a tad melancholic when I noticed this about to open completely flower. I see in it a sort of hallow/goodbye gesture. I do believe that besides humans, animals (especially cats) and plants have a vestige of consciousness.

In Spanish a sunflower is a girasol. That literally means of a flower that rotates to face the sun. I wonder if it is true.

As summer wanes Ale’s sunflower has bid me goodbye and because I will be 84 on August 31st I wonder if I will gaze on a sunflower next year.