When “nature” is a collection of weeds, one might think that colonialism was complete and that we are living in the end times. Weeds, smoke mixed into the winter fog, the morning […]
Sandbar in the Sky
Vernon Creek does a fine job. Look how it builds a sheltering space for waterfowl, out in the sky. Isn’t that great! The creature of the air that makes a home on […]
Moss: Architect of a Green Future
Snow collects where gradients flatten. Stones melt snow. But moss manipulates this effect. It uses the heat of the stone, while providing a flat place for snow to linger, insulated from the […]
Two Kinds of Winter Gardens in the Okanagan
Human Garden: Beaver Garden: Both are acts of memory and gestures of hope. But very different!
A Morning at the Lake: the Wisdom of Geese
Just, like, hanging out at the lake, checking out the hoarfrost, but what’s this? First, the geese left in the fog. Bye, you crazy lot! And then the gulls got worked up. […]
When Trees are Weeds: Truth and Reconciliation from the Ground Up
Yesterday I started a meditation on classicism, and how the cultures within Canada have some choices, given German experience with the power, failure and abuse of classical models as a means of […]
Beautiful Starlings
Isn’t it a bitter irony that these beautiful birds, starlings, an invasive species here, are called pests and are electrocuted for it by the hundreds of thousands … … by that other […]
Writing and Reading as Natural Pattern: No More Classrooms, Please
You know, it’s beautiful. Patterns. A gravel pit, even. Now, if you walk to the side and look back, what do you see? Other patterns. Rhythms. And a relationship between round […]
The Power of Disruption
Here’s the best way to preserve nature. Fence off your vineyard, so the deer have to go around, then dig out a slope far too steep, line it with rocks, and seed […]
Breathing Through a Straw
Even the spirits do it! Rattlesnake Seep, Priest Valley Sly.
Okanagan Okanogan 