Amaranth In Bloom

 Right now, the gardens surrounding the Museum of the American Indian are full of tall amaranth. Their tasseled heads wave in the breeze. Look closely and you can see the tiny nutritious seeds that have been harvested by generations of native peoples. In the same beds, giant squash leaves cover the bottom third of the amaranth, with round squashes hiding under them. Here and there a tobacco plant blooms, as tall as the amaranth. These gardens are an illustration of how people lived and sustained themselves before their world became the New World.

Tall Sunflowers

 If these sunflowers were children, their parents would be so proud. They would have made marks on the door frame noting their height as they grew. This would have happened over the span of just a few months, from tiny sprout to strong stately flowers. Now they stand in all their glory, taller than I can reach, each bloom a replica of the sun that does not show its face on a very gray day.