Sunflower Marks Summer Time

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - OK, back to school. Summer always seems too short for kids and possibly too long for parents. But keeping track of time in summer is hard - the days run together without regular routines and suddenly it's time for school.

Years ago, our neighbor's son Ryan came home from his last day of preschool in June with a sunflower seed and instructions to plant it in a sunny spot. The note also said to keep it watered and watch it grow, and added, 'When this flower is as tall as you, it will be time to come back to school.' As summer passed, the sunflower grew - and grew and grew - until by Labor Day, it was taller than all kids in the neighborhood, and most of us grown ups too.

That sunflower seed served as a little lesson in gardening, a fun way to mark time as summer went by, and a sunny reminder that when you see those giant yellow sunflowers in the neighborhood, a school bus that very same color is probably right around the corner.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio