Sunflowers

It was Saturday night, 9.45. I was watching Detective Lewis solve a crime on TV when the phone rang. It seemed as though the TV had been transported to my living room when M said “ it’s dark now we can go and steal some sunflowers. Are you up for it?”   “Are you serious, I replied”   “Sure am she said. Do you want to come?”. “ Sure do, said I”.

Armed with torch and secateurs I whizzed up to her place and we were off, but where to? There are fields of gorgeous sunflowers everywhere. We decided the closest was best. She was for going into the thicket so we would not leave evidence of our burglary but I was all for a swift roadside raid.

I ventured into the field with trepidation wondering out loud about snakes and M responded; “there are no snakes here, this is not Australia”. Choosing sunflowers by torchlight is not as easy as one might think and I was mindful that we were taking someone’s livelihood as these are a cash crop beautiful though they are.  As the huge leaves I snipped off the stems fell to the ground I laughed as I asked “do you think these might have DNA on them. M replied “that’s why I’ve got gloves on, but when the police arrive at your house in the morning waving leaves”!!!!!!!!!! Seeing the lights of a car across the valley I remarked that I hoped they would not come our way. M said “is it the sunflower police”?

The last time I ventured into bloom burgulary was twenty or more years ago with my dear friend PK. We cut long stems of the wonderful January flowering Hedychium, or ginger lily in a park in Vaucluse in Sydney. He, being a gardening genius knew where the best ones grew. Each summer when I go back to Sydney I look for them for sale by the stem in the fruit stalls in Kings Cross.  Two or three will perfume the whole house.  But for now though in summer in the Tarn it is sun and sunflowers.