Moonflowers and sunflowers

A few times I have snuck out in the middle of the night and headed out to the garden in my nightgown (with Chester the cat following me, delighted for the nighttime company) just to take in the stillness of the moonlight. The greenhouse and horseshoe pit solar lights frame the space perfectly, and it is just a neat place to hang out for a bit of midnight insomnia. Even though it is literally in our front yard, it can still be a little scary sometimes, especially if the coyotes are howling in the background, as they were on this night. Chester, stay close!

I decided to take a few photos to try to capture the mood, but of course my camera (with its automatic extended shutter time nighttime setting) makes it look a lot lighter than it actually was. The first shot captures the darkness and full moon most accurately.

As a contrast, we also headed out to the local sunflower fields! In Deer Park, about a half hour north and west of us, there happens to be a number of large sunflower farms. They are really something to see when they are in bloom, and seeing these happy fields is on my annual summer bucket list.

Depending on the time of day you visit, it can be a little tricky positioning yourself along the right side of a given field, because of course sunflower heads “follow the sun” throughout the day. We were there at midday, around 2pm, and Steve found a field that was generally pointing our way.

It’s not nice to go traipsing into a farmer’s field (sadly some people do), since those seeds and oils are their livelihood. But a few polite pictures from the fringe is okay. For a sunflower lover like me, this is a real August treat!