Sunflowers have to be one of the most recognizable flowers in North America. When you were a kid and someone asked you draw a flower, I bet the result looked something like a sunflower. In addition to the iconic nature of the flowers, we like sunflower seeds so much, we’ve worked with the plant to make bigger and better seeds for us to eat (and also to share with birds).

Sarah Lueder just completed her year with us as Hubbard Fellow and has traveled to California for her next gig. As part of her independent project as a Fellow, she created an entertaining and informative video about sunflowers. It’s a celebration of a charismatic species, its evolution, and its ecological relationships. At the same time, her video highlights the interconnections between sunflowers and people that are far deeper and more complex than I had been aware of.

I hope you enjoy the video. If the embedded video below doesn’t work for you, you can try clicking on this link instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzwK6FDHBxo

While shivering lightly at my desk this week, I came across some photos of fire that warmed me up a little. I thought maybe others would enjoy that same experience, so I’ll feature some of them today. Most of these were taken with my cell phone at the end of prescribed fires, when operations were winding down and I had a few minutes to savor the completion of safe and successful burn before starting to mop-up the remains. All are photos of fires that are being carefully managed and that were fully contained.

Fire comes with a lot of connotations and emotions, depending upon one’s experiences. It can be destructive and frightening in some situations, but productive and rejuvenating in others. Separate from any of those emotions, I’ve always found flames themselves to be fascinating. I’ve spent a lot of hours staring in wonder at campfires, for example, and I know I’m not alone in that.

In addition to making me feel a little warmer, images like the ones below draw me in because of the complex and dynamic nature of those flames. Even still images of flames have a strong sense of motion embedded within them. …Anyway, I hope these photos make you feel a little warmer, if nothing else. (Apologies to my friends in Australia and other southern hemisphere or equatorial places where ‘feeling warmer’ might not be needed…)