A year ago I volunteered to prune a neighbour’s cherry orchard in exchange for some cherries. After all, I was short of fruit trees and she had recently lost her husband. This […]
The Bluebirds are Here: Part 2
Sagebrush Buttercup in Its Natural Environment
Sagebrush buttercup, the first of the grassland wildflowers is blooming in the US Okanogan, and up into Canada, on the south slopes, on sandy hills south of the big lakes. Note the […]
Lichen and Bunchgrass in Harmony
It starts with a drop, of water you might say, but I think it’s a drop of life. Look how both bunchgrass and lichen on this glacial erratic repeat the patterns of […]
There Is No “Post-” in Post-Colonialism
I walked up the hill across the valley today, to get into the fog. No, this isn’t today. This is the spring of 2012. But that’s part of the hill in the […]
The Cunning Mouse Hunting Heron of Okanagan Landing
Look, maybe there aren’t that many wetlands left, because they are full of “airports sport fields houses roads road fill single wide trailers left over sidewalks trucked in from across town golf […]
Learning from Birds
Gulls face the waves. Ducks face humans. Gulls blend in. Ducks don’t. When gulls get in a line, it is so that they can each face the water. If they’re not facing […]
The Humans are Insane
Why Do Geese Have Long Necks? It’s because of alfalfa fields in ancient lake bottoms that drifted into gentle curves in post-glacial winds. It used to be that Canada Geese travelled south […]
Lake Shells (Not Sea Shells)
In salt water, there’s salt and beautiful purple mussels. That’s a fine and wonderful thing. In fresh water, though, such as Okanagan Lake here in the foggy mountains of winter, there are […]
The Manhattan Project Today
This is the Columbia River as understood by the people who brought us the Atomic Bomb. Control Panel, B Reactor, Hanford Engineering Works, Washington This is the Columbia River as understood by […]
The Ethics of Living on the Earth
Canada administrates half of my land as a nation state. The United States administrates the other half. Within Canada, the region called British Columbia administrates half of my land in terms of […]
