Summer Sentinels

Sunflowers, cheddar-cheese petals surrounding seedy-brown-mustard centers, stand guard over hot summer pavement like mighty oaks. Laughing children run in and out the yellow forest, slaying dragons, rescuing damsels in distress, then pretending to be astronauts sailing across space to a planet inhabited by tall, green stalk-like aliens with golden helmets. Did van Gogh imagine such things as he painted so many saffron blooms? Did their sunny dispositions have any effect on him? Did he really love those festive flowers? Look for answers in the pensive starry night.