Would you call this a weed? Russian Thistle aka Tumbleweed How about this? Full Bloom! I found four colour variants today: Gold, Yellow, Pink, and Red. What is a weed? The everyday […]
I am a Weed and Proud of It
Roderick Haig Brown and the Power of the Common People
I learned to speak of the earth without words. Good thing. Look at it. Beautiful Fall Lichens. Knox Mountain. Not a word in sight. Still, I might know the world intimately, I might […]
Of Humans and the Earth
Recently, I gave the Fourth Annual Haig-Brown Memorial Lecture in Environmental Writing, in which I argued for, among other things, the inclusion of other species into personhood and human identity, and demonstrated […]
All Conversations are Not Between People
Why are these people kayaking in Kalamalka Lake? To talk to the lake. Why am I showing you this? To talk with the sky, along with you. Why did I take this […]
How the British Columbia Government Failed the Okanagan
Just an observation. First some background. Thirty years ago the orchards of British Columbia were torn out and replaced with ultra modern high-density orchards on the European model, with the promise that […]
The Oldest of All Stories
The old ways of thinking with the body are still solid. In this age of scientific thinking, there are still turtles, that speak to ancient memory. Turtle Head, Kalamalka Lake And that […]
The Secret of Great Okanagan Wine
In Switzerland, glaciers cool the grapes at night. In Germany, slate holds what heat there is in a long season, while mist and drizzle hold back the sun. In British Columbia, the […]
Honouring the Humble Tumbleweed in Picture and Song
Ladies and Gentlemen, the humble tumbleweed… You can see her mother’s bones beneath her. And what did the Sons of the Pioneers sing about her? See them tumbling down Pledging their love […]
Fish in the Rain, for the Joy of It
Roderick Haig-Brown fished for salmon, but his croquet pitch is now graced with fish as colourful as the hand-tied flies he used as words when he talked with fish and learned to […]
History’s Dead End
Some things are as plain as day. Thirty years on, an industry is already nostalgia. Decorating power switching boxes. I like the “Land of New Horizons” thing, on that 1970s magazine cover. […]
Okanagan Okanogan 