Until I posted my photos of sunflowers and did a little research, I had no idea how popular they are or how many Web sites are devoted to them. Here are a few of my favorites which are just a small sampling of what is available.

Want to teach a lesson about sunflowers to children? See http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/sunflowers_82804.php

or

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2353/

Want to see van Gogh's painting Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers? Go to

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/sunflowerindex.html

or visit

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG3863

Want to learn about growing sunflowers? Visit http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columngw/gr010627.html

On August 12, 1812, the Constitution, in an engagement with the British ship Guerriere during the War of 1812, had cannon shot from the Guerriere bounce harmlessly off her side. When a British sailor saw this happen, he exclaimed "her sides are made of iron". From that point forward the Constitution has been known as "Old Ironsides".

How the Constitution came to be in that battle (she damaged the Guerriere so badly the Guerriere was scuttled the next day) and other tales of her valiant action make for very interesting reading. To learn more about the exploits of "Old Ironsides" visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uss_constitution.

The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae and is native to the Americas. The stem can grow as high as 10 feet and the flowering head with its large seeds can reach 12 inches in diameter.

What we usually call the sunflower is actually a head composed of numerous small flowers (florets) crowded together. The outer florets are the sterile ray florets and can be yellow, maroon, orange or other colors. The small flowers inside the circular head are called disc florets. These florets mature into sunflower seeds but are actually the fruit of the plant. The inedible husk is the wall of the fruit and the true seed lies within the inedible husk.

I took these photos of the Nina at the turning basin here in town. Although I have seen the Nina here before, I still marvel at the bravery of the men who sailed the original ship into the unknown. They had no way of knowing how long the voyage would take or what they would sail into once they left port. At the time not everyone believed the world was round.

She is not a very large ship for a crew of 27. When I think of what the sailors had to endure on such a long voyage, I am amazed. Unlike sailing ships of today, the crew of the Nina had no refrigeration and no communications. They had to bring live animals aboard to provide some of their food. The crew slept on the deck and the animals were kept below. Can you imagine what it must have been like below deck with live animals doing their daily duty?

Once again, a walk downtown with my camera was rewarded with two unusual "photo ops". Tied up at the dock alongside the train trestle was a sailboat from Honolulu, the Jolly Roger and tied up at the dock by the River House was a replica of one of Christopher Columbus' ships, the Nina. I'll have some photos of the Nina tomorrow. If you are interested in seeing the Nina for yourself, she'll be docked here in Petaluma until Tuesday.

My attention was immediately captured by the four skull and crossbones pennants. If there had only been one, I might not have photographed the flag. But four, one on top of the other, was unusual. Once I got home, pirate phrases I've heard through the years started to pop into my head and I decided to do a little research on Wikipedia.

Avast: "Used by sailors as a command to stop doing something or to ignore a previous order"

Limey: "An old American and Canadian slang nickname for the British, originally referring to British sailors. The term is believed to derive from lime juicer, referring to the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy practice of supplying lime juice to British sailors to prevent scurvy."

Noggin: as in be a good lass and bring me a noggin of rum; a small cup or mug

Shiver me timbers: "The phrase is based on real nautical slang and is a reference to the timbers, which are the wooden support frames of a sailing ship. In heavy seas, ships would be lifted up and pounded down so hard as to 'shiver' the timbers, startling the sailors. Such an exclamation was meant to convey a feeling of fear and awe, similar to, 'Well Blow Me Down!', or, 'May God Strike Me Dead'.

Shiver is also reminiscent of the splintering of a ship's timbers in battle - splinter wounds were a common form of battle injury on wooden ships ('shiver' means splinter in some English dialects)".

Jolly Roger: "The Jolly Roger is the name now given to any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The most popularized Jolly Roger today is the Skull and Crossbones. This design was used by four pirates, captains Edward England, John Taylor, Sam Bellamy and John Martel. - It is assumed by most that the name Jolly Roger comes from the French words jolie rouge, meaning "pretty red". Supporting this theory is that during the Elizabethan period "Roger", which was derived from the French "rouge", was a slang term for beggars and vagrants who "pretended scholarship" and was also applied to Privateers who operated in the English Channel."

To read more about the Jolly Roger, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_roger