Ah, the patterns of the snow and water in the grass as they blow around in the winds of the sun. Exquisite! The view south down the Similkameen But there’s something else […]
The Exquisite Choreography of Natural Intelligence
The Power of Mountains
It’s a trickster power that mountains have. They create wind just by passing the sun between them, across the sky. Sunrise in the Similkameen (and the Puddin’head Talus in shadow) In the […]
Birth of the Moon
Fairview Mountain has some stories to tell. Listening is easy.
Mountains Are a Form of Weather
I was formed by the water, soil and air of a mountain valley. One of the consequences is that, to me, the mountains are not “in” the sky, do not “block” the […]
How Caroling Became Line Dancing … and Beyond
Here’s a modern orchard, an enclosed space, a guard or garden, all full of fruit, from the late latin ortus, or, you got it, all together now, an orchard. The beauty of […]
Cultural Evolution in a Post-Canadian Landscape
Today, sober reflection. Tomorrow, a celebration. Kind of a small difference, eh. When the 5,000-year-old rattlesnake den on the hill was blasted away to make room for the luxury view homes the […]
Fire in the Similkameen
Things are burning up in the high country between Keremeos and the Pasayten wilderness. Here was the view Thursday morning, looking south from Olalla towards K Mountain. By 4 pm I left […]
No Mulch or Tillage on This Soil, Please
A living skin, however, is what the climate of the grasslands east of the coastal stratovolcanoes calls for. Anything else is quite the ongoing struggle. Whew. Save your back, eh!
The Year of the Kazillion Cherries Has Begun
When I pruned these trees, the wind was kaboodling down the Similkameen Valley like a grizzly bear made of dry ice. Sawdust was falling in my face from my saw. My feet […]
Beauty and the Bees
I spent the day yesterday at Tree to Me, an organic orchard in the Similkameen Valley. The apples were in bloom. Before grafting some apple trees and maintaining the grafts I put […]
