It’s not prickly, or anything, like a porcupine, but it does catch the light like their quills do. See? First the grass: And now the porcupine: Well, yeah, he’s shy, but that’s […]
Why It’s Called Porcupine Grass
In Praise of the Wind
Porcupine grass teaches us that it doesn’t exactly grow up. Instead, it use the wind to shift “up” through over 180°. What’s more, long after the grass has stopped eating the sun, […]
What Colour is Big Sagebrush?
Great Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), a member of the aster family, rolls across the hills of my country. You could say that where it is home so am I. Not just the […]
What a Great Year for Bees!
Look what they’d done to the road cut above the hill. They’ve absolutely tilled it, digging nests. I my eight years walking this hill, I’ve never seen anything like it. Go, team! […]
Tiny Footprints in the Muck
Look at the insect footprints surrounding this wasp, which is making some of its own, then notice how many there are in all. Some from wasps. Some from others who need mud. […]
The Red Shift of the Sun on Earth
As the sun nears the horizon, the grassland reveals itself. Note the shift of colours towards red. That’s largely because cheatgrass, which has now gone to seed, dominates for a few weeks, […]
Síya? Arrives
In slow motion, Síya? berries are bringing themselves down to us. This isn’t a fanciful idea. They really are. It’s exciting to watch. The excitement mounts!
Needle-and-Thread Grass in Flower
You know there is a little bit of the grassland left when you find some needle-and-thread grass on a hill. It’s almost invisible, but when the light is right, in the low […]
Speed Gardening!
One of my neighbours up the hill built a house a couple months back. Garden is in already!
The Power of Shadows
Butterflies are shadows. Simple to prove. Here’s a leaf shading rock. And a whole flock of shadow butterflies. They’re not the only shadows. The Síya? twigs below are shadows of the past. […]
Okanagan Okanogan 