The balsam root blossoms on the hill were visited by these furry brown bees yesterday. These are the first bees I’ve seen on the flowers that were not shy. They wouldn’t scare. […]
Brave Bees… Perhaps
Going, Going, Gone?
Here’s an example of how British Columbia property law and land use determines the physical characteristics of the land itself. Here’s one of our treasures, the Brittly Prickly Pear. That lovely green […]
Pollination is Dangerous
Watch out, out there! Crab Spider Using a Balsam Root to Do Its Work (Beats chasing around. Note: the bees will not agree.)
The Amazing Long-Distance Relationships Between Bee, Flower and Bird
To gather pollen, a bee is completely exposed — easily spotted from a distance. Their defense is to flee when there is any shadow passing over the yellow cushion of the flower. […]
Traveller at the Core of the Sun
Fare well, voyagers! What a day for space travel!
No, It’s Not Winter
It’s only winter in town. The Earth has no time for that kind of thing!
The Language of Opening
In just the way the balsam roots open… … they find the openings made by deer, and I find them. Just as the siya? opens as clusters of flowers, long enough to […]
The Many Faces of Smúkwaʔxn, or The Birth of the Sun
Arrow-Leafed balsam root (smúkwaʔxn) has her private moments. Here, she is bringing a crop of suns out of the earth. Smúkwaʔxn has her public moments, too. The suns are mature a couple days […]
The First Petal of the First Blossom of the Sun
It’s a good day for arrow-leafed balsam roots. They have come fast (in two days). If you hurry, there’s still time for some fine steamed sprouts. Their menthol flavour is not yet […]
Quince Doesn’t Mind the Cold
Perhaps this is why she moved north long before peach and apricot, apple and pear, or maybe the monks who carried her along were big on thorns, blood and blooms. Symbolism can […]
