High above the valley… …a rock catches the rain, and a saskatoon bush lives off of it. Not Much Cover Way Up Here Even the deer have to really work to find […]
Oceangoing Porcupine
Talking Green Water
On Tuesday, September 17, I will be presenting words and images in a discussion about green water and new agricultural opportunities in the Okanagan Valley. Green Water Slowing Global Warming in Vernon […]
A Preying Mantis and Her Eggs
She’s beautiful, isn’t she. Hiding out in the clover and all the grass stalks and the knapweed tangles and all. Preying Mantis in the Weeds She had a friend with her, but […]
Living Water on the Chilcotin Plateau
Some landscapes are made by wind. Not these ones in the Chilcotin Basalt, inland from the glacially-carved volcanic arc of the Coast Mountains. Big Bar Eskers This is where the glaciers melted […]
Traffic Jam on the Coyote Highway
So, I’m tripping down my favourite Coyote Road, right, admiring the black choke cherries and paying way too much attention to a hawk that’s taking a vole home and is getting harried […]
When the Sun Sets It’s Time to Make a Bed of Wild of Thistles
In Palouse Falls, the world of the heart below the falls is separated from the world of dream above it. Here is a thistle plant at dusk in the world of the […]
Solar Power and Social Power
Solar power looks like this … Hydroelectric power looks like this … Magpie Hill, Bella Vista Road, Vernon Got that? Life looks like this … Harvesting a Solar Conversion Machine Death looks […]
When is a Weed a Weed? When Isn’t It?
Scotch thistle is listed as a noxious weed. To whom? Not to Western Swallowtails tattered by the wind. Not to green sweat bees. Not to bumblebees and Western Swallowtails at once. Maybe […]
New Technology: Solar Powered Water Pumping
So much technology remodels natural processes. Current water use regimes pour water on the surface of the soil and watch it sink in. Natural processes also bring water to the surface. The […]
10 More New Water Collection Technologies for the Okanagan (And an Extra One for Fun)
Currently water is collected in the Okanagan by three methods. The first is to turn high country lakes and streams into reservoirs, which are then piped down into the valleys, to provide […]
Okanagan Okanogan 