Once an important food crop, yellow bells are now rare, yet continue to mark the exchange of water and heat in the soil and to mark what is still possible for renewal […]
Yellow Bells Arrive
The First Petal of the First Blossom of the Sun
It’s a good day for arrow-leafed balsam roots. They have come fast (in two days). If you hurry, there’s still time for some fine steamed sprouts. Their menthol flavour is not yet […]
The Glory That is Paul Terbasket’s Apricot Tree
In 1915, Paul Terbasket of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band was jailed for disobeying a foolish court order and watering his orchard. One apricot tree remains. His land is leased out to […]
Rising With the Trees
On the grasslands of the Similkameen, where the mountains are the sky, one forgets, at times, to pay attention to distance, but here is a reminder. Notice the remnants of a lakebed […]
What is Medicine? What Isn’t?
In Western culture, artistically-prepared, purified products are medicine. They are designed to correct a deficiency or combat an invasion to the body’s temple. The natural state of this temple is one of […]
Sagebrush Buttercup’s Wisdom
It’s time for sagebrush buttercup. Look at her bloom, even though she started in November and got blasted by the deep cold of February. Sagebrush Buttercup with a precious ball of deer […]
The Exquisite Choreography of Natural Intelligence
Ah, the patterns of the snow and water in the grass as they blow around in the winds of the sun. Exquisite! The view south down the Similkameen But there’s something else […]
The Harvest Begins, With Desert Parsley (and a very fine rock)
The desert parsley is up in the Similkameen. This is on the south-facing side of a gulley. The north side was still covered in snow, so perhaps three days before this slope […]
Siya? the Food Chief
On the edge of the water, in unseasonable heat, with the attention that comes from living on her own terms, Siya? the food chief neither watches nor endures but waits within the […]
Mountains Are a Form of Weather
I was formed by the water, soil and air of a mountain valley. One of the consequences is that, to me, the mountains are not “in” the sky, do not “block” the […]
Okanagan Okanogan 