Arrow-Leafed balsam root (smúkwaʔxn) has her private moments. Here, she is bringing a crop of suns out of the earth. Smúkwaʔxn has her public moments, too. The suns are mature a couple days […]
The Many Faces of Smúkwaʔxn, or The Birth of the Sun
Helping the Bees
Here is the local crowd in the pussy willow down the road at 2 pm yesterday. Bees, wild and domestic. Big honey bees, small solitary bees, and even a fly or two. […]
Yellow Bells Arrive
Once an important food crop, yellow bells are now rare, yet continue to mark the exchange of water and heat in the soil and to mark what is still possible for renewal […]
How to Make a City Indigenous, Even if You’re Lazy, Eh
Let’s go downtown as if we lived here. Let’s look at Canada through the lens of the story it tells in the Syilx illahie (illahie is Pacific Slope trade jargon for “story” […]
When Stones Can See and Eyes Can Speak
The eye, or yolk, is one of the first words. It is formed in the full space in the middle of the mouth, suspended in space, and so we have islands, eyes, […]
The Artistic Gestures of the New Okanagan
The first wave of colonization in the Okanagan Valley saw Canadian, British and Belgian entrepreneurs parachuting into the valley to create a series of fruiting gardens and their service towns, integrating European […]
Who Loves Chocolate Mint Today?
It makes … …harvesting… … out of the question! And they call mint “invasive”!
Build An Earth for Wasps? Now’s the Time!
Right in this season, right now, sales of wasp-killing products are peaking, as the yellow jackets drive everyone away from eating outdoors. It can be freaky, especially when the nests are right […]
Why Staghorn Sumac is Called Staghorn Sumac
It’s a random name. We could call it The Leather Tree, or Tree of the Blue Flame, or Sourbush, but Staghorn it is, romantic as all get out, but why? Is it […]
Around and Around and Around and Around We Go
The approach. The landing. The dance. The departure. And then the sun goes down. But then it comes up again. Very fun. Whee. ~ For my friend Theresa, who’s wondering today […]
