In an age of humanism, centered on the concept of humans as discrete physical beings, birth is a simple enough process: an infant gestates in a mother’s womb, comes out, breathes on […]
Birth on New Year’s Day
A New Year’s Lesson
During the year the birds did not come back, a quiet year by any account, siya?, or saskatoon as she is also called, still created berries and offered them. May we all […]
Green Onions for New Year’s
Got your Welsh onions yet? The know no seasons. They push living out of the dead Earth. Which is, accordingly, not dead. Very Celtic, that!
Pigeons and Dates under the Rising Sun
Blessings. The darkness is falling back now. The sun is coming back. Look who showed up today in Penticton. What ancient symbols of renewal! A pigeon and Russian Olives (a kind of […]
Winter Tomatoes Make the Best Sauce
Two months ago, we picked these beauties. They were all very green then. I deviated from Ricardo’s instructions and flavoured it with a red onion, a red clove of garlic, Winter Savoury, […]
Christmas Salad
It’s coming along, eh. This corn salad seeded itself in July and came up in August. It ought to be ready in a couple weeks, just in time for a feast. But, […]
It’s Still Harvest Time
We’ve had 25 centimetres of snow. We’ve had 9 Below Celsius. No-one around this place is particularly worried. It’s harvest time! Could this evergreen character and lasting tenderness be why sage was […]
Of Christmas Trees and Hemp
Consider the lowly Christmas tree, a symbol of a people and its relationship to the Earth. Here’s Mission Hill Winery at Tsinstikeptum, courtesy of “Do the Okanagan.” There are many ways to […]
Okanagan Architecture: Fake or Real?
Fake: Thank You to the Globe and Mail Real: Here, a closeup, so you can admire the finer touches. Got that? No? Here’s another fake: Well, lots of room to park tractors […]
Settlers on the Beach
Every winter, Okanagan Lake piles up leaves, wood, reeds, weeds, shells and feathers on the shore, high and low, bringing life to the dead strand line, building a forest. Every spring, the […]
Okanagan Okanogan 