Ark Valley News - The View from Sunflower Gardens

The View from Sunflower Gardens
By Marilyn Bentley
Last Updated: July 13, 2017

Farmers markets often in July

It's July, and we celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks.

We are glad to live in the Land of the Free.

We like our Monday coffee chat, Tuesday Bible study, game nights, parties, music concerts, sing-alongs and walks around the north building.

Verse of the week: "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3:18)

Remember to pray for our troops and their families.

Grandkids like school vacation — time for baseball games, swim times and sleep-late time.

Four things bother us in July: bugs, sunburn, burns from campfires, bills in the mail.

Some here are fishermen. Whether rivers or lakes give us fish or not, it's the fun of trying.

We are "Kansas Proud" — prairie grass and wind are part of our lifestyle.

We like clean air, clean rivers and good crops and all in use in July.

"If you want to stay youthful, say useful." — Harvey Mackay

We like all our concerts at Sunflower — from Nancy's piano and Kay Tweet's sing-alongs to the Mennonite hymn sing-alongs.

Happy birthday to all those born in July.

Buckle, up. It's the law.

Watch for kids on bikes.

We see results of Kansas winds blowing through the wheat fields. Also on our wind farms, the turbines are moving. Trees in Kansas may be permanently bent over.

In summers, we see clouds with a purpose. We have cirrus clouds (wispy, like feathers) and stratus clouds in layers, also we see fog. We see cumulus clouds — fluffy high — on a warm day. Nimbus clouds bring rain that sometimes flood our rivers.

As you fly over Kansas, in a plane, you may see wide green circles of cropland. These are caused by central pivot irrigation systems from an aquifer underground.

July is a good time for farmers markets. Every two weeks, we share a farmers market day here at Sunflower.

July brings firecrackers, hot days, vacation days, crops growing in Kansas fields, folks outdoors to garden, to visit grandkids in swim pools or on bikes.

It's a good day to visit friends or shop at malls.

Local museums are open in summer. Places like the Cosmophere, the Wichita Art Museum, Exploration Place, Botanica, Cowtown and many parks.

Whether you are dawn's early risers or twilight's last gleamers, be glad you live in Kansas, the center of our nation.

Remember: "Be kind, anyway." — Mother Teresa