I have worked here since 2011 telling stories of the Earth as preparation for a history of the Intermontane Grasslands of Central Cascadia and the rainswept coast that keeps them windy and dry. Now I am presenting this history, step by step, as I have learned it, often from the land itself. The history of this region includes the Canadian colonial space “The Okanagan Valley”, which lies over the land I live in above Canim Bay. The story stretches deep into the American West, into the US Civil War, the War of 1812, and the Louisiana Purchase, as well into the history of the Columbia District of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In all, the story spans the Chilcotin and Columbia volcanic plateaus and the basins that surround them. In this vast watershed lie homelands as old as 13,200 years (Sequim) and 16,200 years (Salmon River.) That’s how far we are walking together here, who are all the land speaking.
Okanagan Okanogan 
Meanwhile, “the girls” are at meetings in Arizona, having heard from the avian grapevine of these early songs. “Really? Can we choose mates and get an early start on parenting this year? Maybe two broods, and take over the marshes?”
Stay tuned!
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Yeah, the guys party for two weeks, and then the ladies show up, and things get serious over night. It’s very sweet. I’m glad the ladies are having a great time.
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They need two weeks to polish their epaulettes.
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That’s it!
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Beautiful
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Worth freezing the fingers half off!
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I’m a little late to the party but wanted to say that I heard a few here (Fidalgo Is., WA), too, several weeks ago. Crazy! And wonderful.
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