Forget summer. We spend half the year within cloud that is the breath of the lake held in the air by pressure off the mountains and the sea. If you’re going to […]
Black Holes Are No Anomaly
Some leaves have holes. Others are holes. All leaves are holes in the light. When they are alive, they place themselves there. When they are dead, they are like the rest of […]
Canada Comes to the Okanagan Valley
If you plant a maple tree in the Okanagan Valley, pretty soon the place starts to look like Canada. And if you plant a bunch of other colourful things, it looks like […]
Making Spaces for All
Here’s an intriguing balance at work. Meet the staghorn sumac, and its friend the pussy willow. Both of them put hairs on their bodies to stay warm. Both of them have leaves, […]
The Medicine of Fall Colours
I’ve been thinking of “fall colours.” These pale greens, for instance. Or these pale. yellows, oranges, purples and pinks… and pale greens. Look, though, how the undercover is bright and lush. That’s […]
Porcupine’s Favourite Colour
When medicine willow (the apricot-coloured one below) grows in deep shade, it collects a deep, reductive power. It is not the leaves you harvest but the inner bark, but it forms in […]
So Many Shades of Green!
Sumac turning before its time, in the smoky sun. I’d say she’s done this before.
The (Post) Colonial Landscape
These plants have gone wild from a garden above them. Not one is native here. They are native to Eastern North America. To survive in its illusion of seasons, White culture requires […]
Ripeness
Spring is great, but look at ripeness! Sumac and filbert meet the earth. Oh my.
Wild Crafting 101
To find currants in the crowded foliage of midsummer, just be there in the fall, long after the berries have gone to the birds. You’ll know where they are. Wild crafters know […]
Okanagan Okanogan 