Given that it’s mostly female, maybe “queen” would be better? Apple Blossoms in Keremeos (12 hours before the snow) Life is risk. It is these first, strong, dominant blooms that commercial orchards […]
Human and Inhuman Beings in the Grassland
Here is a sumac that has closed off the light to others and opened into the light it keeps to itself. Here is an applied Homo sapiens idea of how this might […]
The Power of Shadows
Butterflies are shadows. Simple to prove. Here’s a leaf shading rock. And a whole flock of shadow butterflies. They’re not the only shadows. The Síya? twigs below are shadows of the past. […]
The Thing About Leaves
Leaves don’t hang from trees and trees don’t look like this: They look like this: Cottonwood Leaves are drawn out of the trees by the sun. Gravity might pull them down … […]
The End of an Invasive Species, or Evolution in Action
Dalmation toadflax is a nasty weed (but pretty) and does nothing in the valley (except get eaten by cows who have eaten all the native plants and be a herbal cure and […]
Beauty and the Feast
The mountains have bloomed for Easter. Beautiful Arrow-leafed Balsam Root! Beats me why the whole city doesn’t shut down and take to the hills. And yet, for all that gorgeous display, the […]
Between One Moment and the Next in the Slowness of Rain
There is a liminal space between things. The opening of the cottonwoods along the banks of their internal rivers slows in the rain. It holds, as the tree climbs up and down […]
The Language of Opening
In just the way the balsam roots open… … they find the openings made by deer, and I find them. Just as the siya? opens as clusters of flowers, long enough to […]
It’s That Time of the Year, Hurry Hurry Hurry
Gather that grass, then fly the wrong way as a decoy. Then fly, fly, fly! Don’t delay. It’s nesting time. Quick, get at ‘er. ~ With thanks to the starlings.
Valley Energy: the Similkameen Story
In the Similkameen, the mountains are rounded around Cawston, at least to the East. Look how hard they fight to remain horizontal. This is flat country. Note the sharp peaks at the […]
