A maze of golden Sunflowers

Last night, we had rain and this morning has been very overcast and dreary. A splash of bright colour feels good! It's only 10°C this morning and we are supposed to get more rain this afternoon. Yesterday, the temperature got up to around 28°C, but the sun was very harsh and the lighting was not good for most photos.

I'm really hoping that the forecast for rain is correct for the next few days, as I shouldn't drive my vehicle till it has been serviced and fixed. Quite apart from maybe doing more damage to the car, I definitely don't want to find myself stranded somewhere. About 10 days ago, the orange Engine Warning light came on a few times, but since then, it has been OK. Yesterday, it was not a good feeling when the light came on again, far from home! The same thing has happened before and seems to be connected to the way the car keeps jerking when I am stopped at traffic lights. Feels as if the car might stall. It is due for a service, anyway, and it also needs a new control box installed. So, I'm hoping this can be done as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I'll be missing all the gorgeous fall colours : (

Yesterday, 12 September 2015, I drove further than I've ever driven before - a total of 410 km (254 miles). Today, I'm feeling tired out and finding it difficult to get going, so it's taking me ages to just add tags and descriptions, ha.

I met my daughter at 9:00 am and we headed northwards, with our main destination being the Bowden Sunflower Maze. She feels well enough now after her recent hospital stay, to get out for a day trip. The quickest route from Calgary is a distance of 96 km (60 miles), but I needed to avoid the main, busy route. Also, the backroads are more pleasant to drive - less traffic and, if one is lucky, the occasional old barn. There was one barn in particular that I had seen last year, that I really wanted to show my daughter and this took us a little out of our way. We drove through the town of Olds, stopping briefly to take a couple of photos of the bright orange grain elevator. Haven't yet been able to find any information about this Pioneer elevator. Going north, we drove the roads to the west of the main Highway 2, and on our return trip we drove the roads to the east of Highway 2. I think this trip really convinced my daughter, more strongly than ever, that sadly she has a mother with almost zero sense of direction!

"A young sunflower's flower head faces the sun to receive the sunlight it needs for photosynthesis. Heliotropism is the term for a plant's ability to follow the sun. That ability allows a sunflower to move with the sun as it arcs across the sky from east to west; the sunflower's bloom always faces the sun.

When the sunflower plant matures, the neck of its stem no longer grows, and tracking of the sun's arc ceases. The blooms of most mature sunflowers face east, but some face other directions." From homeguides.

homeguides.sfgate.com/sunflower-move-73855.html

A very short time lapse video showing how Sunflowers move to face the sun:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mr0R3ibPU

The flowers in my photo seem to be facing every possible way, giving a rather messy look! Maybe that's what happens when the flowers are past their prime?

This was the first time I had ever been to Bowden and the Sunflower Maze. For years, I had wished we had a field of Sunflowers somewhere within reach, as I had seen so many gorgeous photos taken by other people in various parts of the world. I certainly didn't get photos like those, but I was happy to get the shots I did get. Apparently, this weekend is going to be the last chance to really see the flowers, so we were just in time. This maze at Eagle Creek Farm is apparently the only Sunflower Maze in Canada. There is also an adjoining Corn Maze, but neither of us wanted to walk through that one, thanks to remembering the horror movie, "Children of the Corn"! The farm also has U-pick vegetables and flowers.

www.sunmaze.ca/

Thanks, Rachel, for spending the day with me - and for all your directions getting us there and back to the city! Lucky we went when we did, as it has been raining ever since.