Grumpy Old Ganz
Do you get easily
distracted?
I don’t have a short attention span. Well, maybe I do...I just…oh, look, a squirrel!
Yes, I do this and it is extremely frustrating, yet fascinating at times.
I am not a fan of flowers and there is one I absolutely despise…sunflowers!
While mowing the lawn this past week I drove past a flower I had photographed many times. Suddenly, without reason, I shut everything down to investigate.
I took a closer look and began to see what brought about an unexpected walk through my entire woods.
This flower was everywhere, some in the complete shade while others were in complete sunlight, which baffled me…prompting me to retrieve my reference book! I then took pictures to show someone more knowledgeable at a later time.
Without a reasonable explanation, I instantly walked to my vehicle and headed out to hopefully get an answer.
Upon arriving (at the knowledgeable person’s home)…I began to explain what my investigation produced along with the photos I had taken like it was a crime scene. They quickly pulled out a computer and their phone and within a few moments identified the flower, which I had spent hours trying to do.
After receiving my answer…I left not only in disbelief but also very unhappy!
While driving home I began to snicker at the situation, realizing that for the last few years of taking pictures of this pretty yellow flower it turned out to be a “Helianthus Divaricatus”… or commonly known as the “Woodland Sunflower”. It is one of 19,000 species in 920 genera that make up the Asteraceae or Compositae Family.
Hmmm...a sunflower?!?!
I returned home and got back on my mower to finish mowing the lawn. After mowing just a few feet, I got a little distracted, repeating the same situation AGAIN! This time it was a purple flower. I took the rest of the day and another trip to find out it was yet another Asteraceae. Now there are only 18,998 more to find!
And all I wanted to do was mow the lawn…
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