Sunflower of the Shrub Steppe

Helianthus annuus, or the common sunflower, blooms along the dirt road leading to a view of the Columbia River, somewhere in Douglas County, Washington. — On Flickr

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem. On one of our many “hop in the car and let it lead the way” adventures on the back roads and trails of our area, the shrub-steppe, semi-arid region of Eastern Washington, we found ourselves heading down a dirt road towards the Columbia River. The road is labeled “Primitive Road” and used by farmers, ranchers, and county officials like linemen, land commissioners, etc. Of course, the road to the river is blocked because it is on private property, but we ended up with a grand view of the grand Columbia River.

In 1864, Chinese immigrants established placer mining along this stretch of the Columbia River. See page 4 of National Park Servis History Pamphlet. You can see the small inlet for the placer mining in the center of the picture. Note: I did lighten the picture because it was late afternoon on a stormy day in September of 2017 when I took the picture.

Just behind us in this spot is the crumbling remains of a rock homestead from the same time period— behind a fence, so we couldn’t get a closer look.

Remember, Washington became the 42nd state years later, on November 11, 1889. [Info]

And I’m sure the area then was filled with the lovely, common sunflower of the Asteraceae family. The flower originated in southeastern states and was cultivated by Native Americans 5,000 years ago. It may have first been cultivated in Mexico. Its seeds were of course a food source, and those sunflower seeds we eat today are hydrides of this amazing plant [Wikipedia].

And so, a poem…

Poetry

Helianthus annuus

In the dryness along the road
They flourish, stretching tall
To reach the sun’s rays
Of which they emulate
In petals so yellow
Held together with earth brown
To bring the heavens
To us:
Sunflower
Sheri Edwards
06.16.23 168.365.23
Poetry/Photography [See-Frame-Focus]

#clmooc #smallpoems #sunflowers

Helianthus annuus, or the common sunflower, blooms along the dirt road leading to a view of the Columbia River, somewhere in Douglas County, Washington.