Julia Aleynikova is a young poet from the north east Ural mountains, who gave me six sunflower to plant while she went to Minsk for the summer. Her poem “Lady Fallen to Earth” […]
The Unity of Plants vs. Human Hate
The science based on Darwin holds that plants evolve over time to fit various ecological niches. This bunchgrass, for example, evolved to take advantage of hot, windy climates. The science based on […]
Gravity is Relative: The Wisdom of Wasps
To humans, gravity means you keep your feet on the ground. Not so for wasps. For them, it’s all fine to act that way when flying, but when you stop flying […]
Garage Sex, Okanagan Style
The marriage bed. Go away for 3 weeks and the neighbours move in, with each other on their mind. Madam came first. Yeah, she didn’t pose very well, but there was all […]
Try This on Mars, I Dare You
Life in the sky… … vanishes (This is a form of ripening.) At first it is nowhere to be found. Bones are everywhere. The sun has burnt everything away.Not everything. There are bee caves. […]
Beautiful Paper Wasps
A weed will do. Or a board up against a roof. Life is an amazing thing.
Beautiful Tent Caterpillars
It’s the time of year when tent caterpillars are in their glory, making art out of the choke cherries in the roadside ditches, along the walking trails, and in the creek beds […]
The Fish That Shake the Mountain Trees to Their Cores
The mountains before the fish get at them. And after. Note the newest ring of fish ripples in the lower centre of the image. Both are the “real” mountains. How […]
Garter Snake Fishing
Meet the fisher. Look how beautiful she is. (About 3 feet long.) Inspect her fishing tackle. And her hidey hole. She looks like a beaver peeled stick lying in the shallows. Note […]
Life (and chipmunks)
Fire comes from the centre of the solar system. Water comes from the edge of the solar system. They meet on earth. You would think they might extinguish each other, but no. […]
Okanagan Okanogan 