Does the Sunflower Wait for the Sun to Rise?Welcome to our September newsletter, Murmurations, a small gathering of thoughts and ideas inspired by life-centered design, our ongoing learning, and the discoveries we make along the way. To celebrate the anniversary of the first-ever Sun Day (a day of action, celebrating solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind) held last year on September 21, we went looking for connections between the Sun’s daily rhythms, sunflowers that follow its movement, and the design of Mongolian gers that make use of the Sun’s changing path across the sky. The ger connection feels especially timely this year, as Treasure and her family spent two weeks living in gers in Mongolia this August, allowing her to observe these remarkable structures up close. It turns out there is more to these connections than meets the eye. So, let’s follow the Sun for a moment and see where it takes us. Have you ever wondered whether a sunflower has some kind of tiny internal engine that helps it keep up with the Sun? Or have you been a little disappointed when you looked at a sunflower and realized it wasn't following the Sun across the sky? What happened? Well, both are pretty good questions. Young sunflowers really do follow the Sun. When they start to grow, they face east in the morning. As the day progresses, they gradually turn westward with the moving Sun. Then, during the night, they reorient themselves, turning back toward the east in anticipation of dawn. By morning, they are ready to begin again.
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