The Face Of Love

I am not a big flower fan. I like their fragrance, design and pure beauty, but as far as I am concerned, they die too quickly. While I enjoy and appreciate joy that they bring, I wish they lasted longer.

I had a friend who used to be a florist and occasionally when I went into the shop, I would see various people excitedly buying flowers; roses, carnations, tulips, gladiolas and pansies.

Surprisingly the most popular flower was the sunflower. People seemed to be snapping them up like crazy. The shop could never keep them in stock. When the shop closed for the day, I stayed and helped my friend clean up.

On the floor was a sunflower that had gotten trampled in the rush to buy his relatives. When I picked it up, it seem to emanate a warmth, a peaceful presence, a life energy, a spiritual vibration, a love, if you will.

Sunflowers are not petite like roses, or fluffy like carnations, not even particularly attractive, but very alluring. As I stared at it, I got a sense of peace. It was almost like I was holding a live presence in my hand.

I felt drawn into this unusual looking flower. Something had to be inside that flower. The energy pulled me in like a force of nature. As I looked deeper into it’s center, it looked like a face and I’m sure it was winking at me.

I had to know more about these magical flowers. The scientific name of sunflowers is Helianthus, Helia for sun and Anthus for flower.

Sunflowers are one of the fastest growing plants. They can grow 8 to 12 feet tall in rich soil within six months.

The tallest sunflower was grown in The Netherlands (25' 5.5" tall) grown in 1986 by M. Heijmf.

The largest sunflower head on record measured 32 1/2 inches across its widest point and was grown in Canada.

The shortest mature sunflower on record was just over 2 inches tall and was grown in Oregon using the Bonsai technique.

Sunflowers requires only 90 to 100 days from planting to maturity.

The sunflower is native to North America and was used by the Indians for food and oil. Some farmers use it to feed their livestock.

We use sunflower seeds to make oil, bird seed and for snacking. They have lots of calcium and 11 other important minerals. They do have 50% fat, but it is mostly polyunsaturated linoleic acid.

Wild sunflower is highly branched with small heads and small seeds, in contrast to the single-stem and large seed head of domesticated sunflower.

Sunflower heads consist of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. The large petals around the edge of a sunflower head are individual ray flowers which do not develop into seed.

A well-known sunflower characteristic is that the flowering heads track the sun's movement, a phenomenon known as heliotropism.

The daily orientation of the flower to the sun is a direct result of differential growth of the stem. A plant-growth regulator, or auxin, accumulates on the shaded side of a plant when conditions of unequal light prevail. Because of this accumulation, the darker side grows faster than the sunlit side. Thus, the stem bends toward the sun.

Most people think a sunflower "follows the sun," but that actually happens when sunflower are very young plants, long before they are ready to bloom. A field full of sunflower looks beautiful first thing in the morning, as they point their faces toward the east. By noon they're pointing straight up, and by evening, to the west. If you check back the next morning, they'll be facing east again.

The French word for sunflower is tournesol, which literally means "turn with the sun."

Sunflowers date back to ancient times? Carbon dating of seeds found in North American clay date back nearly 3,000 years.

Early American natives used the sunflower long before corn and beans were brought to America. They ate the seeds, ground the small kernels into flour, extracted oil from seeds for their hair, and used the seeds, flower petals, and pollen to make dyes for face paint, cloths and baskets.

In Peru, the Aztecs worshiped sunflowers, they placed sunflower images made of gold in their temples and crowned princesses in the bright yellow flowers.

Sunflowers made their way to Europe in the early 1500’s. They were used for gifts carried by Spanish settlers returning home.

The great Russian ruler Peter the Great liked sunflowers so much when he saw them in Holland he took seeds back to Russia. By the 1700’s sunflower seeds were being eaten all over Russia. The former Soviet Union grows the most sunflowers and is the national flower of Russia.

Sunflowers are the state flower of Kansas, USA.

Sunflower stems were used to fill lifejackets before the advent of modern materials.

The Sunflower paintings of Vincent Van Gogh show a mental connection not only between the artist's name and the painting, but also between the artist and the influence of Sunflowers on the development of art through these paintings. Van Gogh's Sunflower paintings have altered mankind's perspective of art and life. These Sunflower photos captivate the mind and leave you astounded in their simplistic beauty.

Most of us call them sunflowers with an "s." But according to Mary Lou, whose work in sunflower breeding took her to many parts of the world for 23 years, sunflower never turns into sunflowers - - ever! So, if you have one sunflower or twenty, you still have sunflower. Period.

The large, cheerful heads of sunflowers are associated with goodwill, friendship, and happiness. Beautiful in small groupings in a garden, planted over large plots of land, or growing wild, these flowers native to the Americas give every person who sees them a reason to smile.

So many facts about sunflower(s) that they are making my head spin.
Since that day, I look at sunflowers in a different light. Every time I see one, I look at it with a knowing glance. We have the same goal - we just want to make you smile.

We are like sunflowers. They turn toward the sun for nourishment and growth, while we turn towards love for the same benefits. Let your love turn others into sunflowers.

That day, I took the sunflower home, put it in some water and it lasted much longer than any other flower. I have changed my mind about flowers. They are here for a reason - to give us love - and love changes our perception of love.

25 Ways To Perk Up Your Trivia

Picture this: you’re at a party having great time and suddenly someone breaks out the game, Trivial Pursuit. Your eyes almost pop out of your head, your heart palpitates, you’re in a total panic.

You don’t want to be subjected to this game of knowledge, so you try to escape, but before you have a chance, someone grabs your arm and says, “Let’s play.”

Before the word, “No” can gurgle its way out of your mouth, you are sucked into the utter abasement of not knowing anything. Fear no more. If you learn trivia slowly then you are bound to be the hit of any party.

So let’s get the ball rolling so you can be the life of the next party.

Here are some facts that will impress the best Trivial Pursuit players. Have a great weekend.

The average person can live 11 days without water.

It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.

35 meters of hair fiber is produced every day on the average adult scalp.

10 percent of all human beings ever born are alive at this very moment.

The Population of the world can live within the state boundaries of Texas.

If you tried to count to stars in a galaxy at a rate of one every second it would take 3,000 years to count them all.

The number of cars on the planet is increasing three times faster than the population growth.

The first known heart medicine was discovered in an English garden. In 1799, physician John Ferriar noted the effect of dried leaves of the common foxglove plant, digitalis purpurea, on heart action. Still used in heart medications, digitalis slows the pulse and increases the force of heart contractions and the amount of blood pumped per heartbeat.

In the 40's, the Bich pen was changed to Bic for fear that Americans would pronounce it “Bitch.”

Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know your there.

In ancient Rome it was considered a sign of leadership to be born with a crooked nose.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David; Clubs - Alexander the Great; Hearts - Charlemagne; and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one leg front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all 4 legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

First novel ever written on a typewriter was "Tom Sawyer."

Roman Emperor Caligula made his horse a senator.

Every year the sun loses 360 million tons.

Russia has the most movie theaters in the world.

If you can see a rainbow you must have your back to the sun.

Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.

Napoleon made his battle plans in a sandbox.

In ancient Greece, children of wealthy families were dipped in olive oil at birth to keep them hairless throughout their lives.

About 8 million blood cells die in the human body every second, and the same number are born each second.

In 1994, electromagnetic interference (EMI) from a nearby cellular telephone captivated a power wheelchair at a scenic vista in Colorado, sending the passenger over a cliff.

More people working in advertising died on the job in 1996 than died while working in petroleum refining.

If a native Hawaiian woman places the flower on her right ear, she is available. The bigger the flower, the more she’s desperate.

X Marks The Spot

Do you ever find yourself saying, “There was a time when...?" I caught myself saying it the other day as I dashed in and out of various shops, swiping my credit card while trying to fit that sand back into the hour glass to regain time.

There was a time when I actually signed my name on a credit card receipt, but now time is so precious that I find myself signing ‘AX.’

Isn’t that a breach of the credit card agreement? Shouldn’t I be signing my whole name and not just the tip of it? I have known some people to sign only X. At least I have a bonus letter.

As I looked at my receipt, I laughed. What must the people back in the credit card office think? Did they think I was an ax murderer?

Did you know that the X's that people sometimes put at the end of letters or notes to mean a kiss, actually started back in the 1000's when Lords would sign their names at the end of documents to other important people? It was originally a cross that they would kiss after signing to signify that they were faithful to God and their King. Over the years, it slanted into the X.

X is what is said upon finding your target has been marked out, derived from an X on pirate treasure maps. The phrase was put into common usage by the British army, who performed executions by marking a piece of paper with a black X and positioning it on the heart of someone sentenced to death. The acting officer would say, "X marks the spot" and the firing squad would shoot the X.

X is 24th letter of the English alphabet and one of the least used letters, ranking 23rd out of 26. Only the letters J, Q and Z are used less, ranking 24th, 25th and 26th respectively. The letters X, J, Q and Z are derived from the ancient Semitic symbols for fish, hand, ape and arrow (in that order.)

Saint Andrew, a patron saint of Greece, Russia and Scotland was crucified in Patras, Greece, because he refused to renounce Jesus. The X-shaped cross is known as the Saint Andrew’s Cross, as is the Scottish flag (a white X on a blue background.) The crosses of Saint George, Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick make up the Union Jack.

Though my time management skills are usually very good, there are times when they could use tightening. I looked at my faux signature again and thought about it. It’s not about penmanship, it’s about taking your time before it takes you. Then it hit me.

We are a society of symbols. Look around, there is a symbol for everything. If you watch how people interact with each other, you’ll see a myriad of symbols.

We pound our fists in anger and aggression, throw our hands up in frustration, and open our arms to embrace love. Since many people already associate the X with love, why not continue doing it?

I could rectify my dilemma by signing my full name on all receipts and at the end of it, I could add a little X. It would be my Joy of X 'Xperiment' and just another way to leave love in the world.

Although X is crossed in the middle, it stays connected - and that’s what we want X - to stay connected.

So what do you say? Wanna join me? Wanna join the ‘Xperiment?’ Try it. Spice up your X life and have an 'Xcellent' time doing it. Put a little X by your name and know that when X marks the spot, it is marked with love.

Today I leave you with love. xx oo

Hang on to it.

P.S. For some reason, I feel like watching X-men now. ;D