You might be asking....Why sunflowers? Well, my earliest childhood memories are of life in Kansas. After moving to Arizona in 1960, many vacations were spent in Kansas to visit relatives who lived there. Even though Arizona will always be "home" to me, a little of my heart is still in Kansas. The Kansas State flower is the Sunflower, and I remember fields of sunflowers along the country roads. I have many fond memories: big family gatherings in Kansas, collecting eggs from the chicken coop, picking mulberries in Grandma's backyard, homemade ice cream, lots of card games, riding on grandpa's combine for harvest, watermelon-spitting contests, lightning bugs at dusk, helping bring lunch to the farmhands during harvest, playing hide & seek with cousins, hayrides, jigger bites (not-so-good), finding our families' roots by exploring ancestors' farms and cemetery plots. My grandparents and parents all lived in Wilson, Kansas, home of the Czech Festival, which celebrates the end of the wheat harvest each summer. Lots of bierocks, kolaches, polkas and beer to enjoy! Sunflowers make me smile and remind me of Kansas!
