Rabbitbrush defines this country in the fall. It catches the sun and shines. Well, not this year, but it still has its magic. There’s nothing quite like this showy aster that pulls […]
The Wisdom of Rabbitbrush
The Only Hope for the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys in a Culture of Fire
I hate to say it, but the dream that has kept my family tied to the land for 91 years in this trough in the Columbia Plateau is over. Instead of a […]
After Nature, Living Water
The land is your village. This might mean that forests look a little different. This Douglas-fir grove on the Big Bar Eskers is dying, partly because of the stress of the ingrowth […]
The Fire is Us
There are fires in all directions, for the fourth year in a row. Note the smoke above, in the Okanagan, and below, in the Cariboo. Cough cough. There’s a lot of talk […]
Everybody Has an Apocalypse Story Now
Hey, look at what’s going down in the news: Scientists Call Northwest Heatwave the ‘Most Extreme in World Weather Records’ Well, um, yeah, and as the source of that article, commondreams.org says, […]
How Hot is It in the Okanagan?
So hot that the native vegetation has abandoned summer, to wait it out until spring. It’s nice to think of this ancestor as a beautiful springtime sunflower. Truth is, it wouldn’t be […]
Balancing the Atmosphere With Algae
So, on the grasslands, blue green algae (part of this healthy soil crust in the Cariboo) pulls nitrogen from the sky and makes it available to plants. So does the lichen on […]
Reading the Weather
If you live in a place where you can’t see the sky, you don’t need to know the weather. But if the sky can get at you, you should have a personal […]
Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink
It has been a dry spring. The force of the winds hitting the Coast and Cascade Mountains is creating a stronger than normal mountain of lift to the east. Here’s how it […]
The Clouds Pass Overhead and Underfoot
The Similkameen River flows beneath the northern wall of the Cascades. The Similkameen Looking South from Keremeos Creek Mouth It is not just a flow of water. The gravel of its bed […]
Okanagan Okanogan 