In researching our new prompt “flexible”, I read about flexibility in nature. The structures in nature seem to be less rigid and more bendable than the manmade structures we build with concrete and stiff materials. Plants have to be flexible to adapt their growth to the situation they find themselves in. They can bend and twist, not only during their growing period but often on a short-term basis to deal with their environments. Flexible trees can weather a storm, they bend but don’t break.

 I read something new to me in a New York Times article from 2002:

 Because daffodil flowers always flop to one side (unlike tulip flowers, which stand straight) when strong winds blow, daffodils twist, so that the back of their petals face into the wind. Wind tunnel experiments showed that with their backs to the wind, daffodils experienced one-third less drag. ”By being deliberately weak and twisting,” Dr Vogel said, ”they avoid being stressed so much in bending.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/17/science/nature-s-secret-to-building-for-strength-flexibility.html)

This idea, that plants bend and twist to avoid or take advantage of some aspect of their environment might be the inspiration for my take on “Flexible”.