These are fast snakes. Usually they just zip by, a few inches up in the grass, and you hardly see them, but this one is trail smart, and has mastered the art […]
Western Yellow-bellied Racer
Beating the Heat
The water comes to the rock faces of Turtle Mountain under the snow. It’s gone now …. … but it intensifies the sun and creates an early season for the arctic plants […]
Cool Camouflage
The trick is to put two fake eyes and fake feelers on the top of your wings, while hiding out down below as if you were upside down. Just the fake eyes or the […]
Marsh Hawk in Trouble
Still strong enough to fly, although not very willing, but that wounded foot is going to make it hard to hunt. I hope it heals quickly. It’s not a reprieve for the rodents, […]
Where the Bear Walks There Walk I
It’s the time of year for saskatoons to bloom. The air smells sweet. Soon the berries will be even sweeter. Watch out for the ones with worms! Look how […]
The Rowans of April
Remember the rowans of January? Well, it’s not like that now! Remember the rowans of St. Brigid’s feast day? Things have changed around this place. The rowans are uncurling. […]
A Day of Good Fortune
Service Berry and Wasp
How to Find a Story on the Columbia Plateau
Note the grove of firs in the background here, between the Sinlahekin and Okanogan valleys (well, stories) of Washington. If you walk one way, they are the bristly children a toad is carrying […]
Persian Music for the Coldest Night
Last night, the frost stayed away on this spring-two-weeks-too soon. The apricots are waiting for bees that are too cold to fly. Thanks, everyone, for your prayers. Tonight, though, is April 1, and […]
Why Did the Garter Snake Cross the Road?
It’s a spring thing, I think.
Okanagan Okanogan 