The plum in blossom… … becomes music in the wind. The Síya? in blossom … … is the music of bushes cast across a scree slope. West of Olalla The break in […]
Every Sentence is a Map of the World
The Role of a Post Colonial Literature in Canada
It is possible to have a stream that is dry, that is nonetheless still a stream. The land teaches that. It teaches that “streaming” is not a function of water but that, […]
Valley Energy: the Similkameen Story
In the Similkameen, the mountains are rounded around Cawston, at least to the East. Look how hard they fight to remain horizontal. This is flat country. Note the sharp peaks at the […]
Meaning, Memory, Minding, Mind
Last week, I spoke about Wide Energy. At the end, I showed this image of it from the Similkameen: At the time, I noted: These are the energies that shape us and […]
The Glory That is Paul Terbasket’s Apricot Tree
In 1915, Paul Terbasket of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band was jailed for disobeying a foolish court order and watering his orchard. One apricot tree remains. His land is leased out to […]
Rising With the Trees
On the grasslands of the Similkameen, where the mountains are the sky, one forgets, at times, to pay attention to distance, but here is a reminder. Notice the remnants of a lakebed […]
The Exquisite Choreography of Natural Intelligence
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 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 […]
Okanagan Okanogan 