Now that economies are struggling, it’s a good idea to look at some previous collapses. Hundreds of orchards, for one, have disappeared in northern Washington in the last dozen years. At first […]
The Time of Starting Over
Metal People in the Rust Belt
I think reality has become a fantasy and the true story of our time is written in science fiction. Here, for example, is a man holding up a salmon in praise, on […]
Waiting for Winter
The Canadian Okanagan is the deep south. At its farthest south, Osoyoos boasts Spanish architecture and is famed for desert sun and vineyards. Grapes are planted here on old orchard land, impossibly […]
Learning from the South
Images of people change with time. Here is John Chukuaskin Ashnola’s grave from Upper Keremeos. He became chief of the Ashnola people in 1866, until his death some fifty years later. He […]
Ogopogo
Okanagan Lake is home to a monster called Ogopogo. He’s awfully good for tourism. What is he? A sturgeon? A hunk of driftwood? A plesiosaur? Well, maybe not a plesiosaur, not if […]
Nuclear Fusion With a Twist
I had an idea about the land. It started in the sky and ended on earth. It went like this. First, a tiny introduction. Nuclear fusion is the process of merging two lighter […]
Secret Water and Lost Water
One secret of water is that it flows downhill. Another is that it does not stay. This is true of wetlands, which don’t consume water but use it then pass it on, […]
Political Shenanigans
Who owns the land? Coyotes, I think. Still, issues of human land use remain politically troubled. The area in the midground of this picture, for example, is part of an area of […]
The Living Dead
Halloween is an ancient ritual, played out on October 31, the old New Year’s Eve. In the English version of these ceremonies, which the Canadian Okanagan inherited, children dress up as lost […]
Before the Crush
It is always exciting to taste a new vine as it pours out of the press into an enamel cup. Behind the sweetness, a hint of the wine tantalizes the mouth, like […]
