Spring doesn’t come all at once. As this ravine in Vernon shows… “Spring” is the wrong concept entirely. Experience has to be selectively read in order for the concept to fit at all. […]
The Mingling Rivers of Life
Falling Helps
An old fir turns to the red of fire. It is dry as dust in the spring sun. But if you think it’s dead, well… … just add water. Shade helps. Without […]
Do You Digest Your Food Outside Your Body?
Birds do. Here’s a clutch of haws that have used frost and sun to break their acids down into sugars. This is the time of year that birds will come for them […]
The Great Push of Life
Look at the filberts in my garden, hanging out their catkins. For them, the great push has begun. This is their springing up, their spring. And here on the hill is the […]
Mourning Cloak Lays Her Eggs
Who said Chinese elms have no place here, eh. It wouldn’t be spring without the mourning cloaks! In the Similkameen they are deep purple, the colour of spring catkins. Here in the […]
The Power of Shadows
Butterflies are shadows. Simple to prove. Here’s a leaf shading rock. And a whole flock of shadow butterflies. They’re not the only shadows. The Síya? twigs below are shadows of the past. […]
Beauty and the Feast
The mountains have bloomed for Easter. Beautiful Arrow-leafed Balsam Root! Beats me why the whole city doesn’t shut down and take to the hills. And yet, for all that gorgeous display, the […]
Between One Moment and the Next in the Slowness of Rain
There is a liminal space between things. The opening of the cottonwoods along the banks of their internal rivers slows in the rain. It holds, as the tree climbs up and down […]
It’s That Time of the Year, Hurry Hurry Hurry
Gather that grass, then fly the wrong way as a decoy. Then fly, fly, fly! Don’t delay. It’s nesting time. Quick, get at ‘er. ~ With thanks to the starlings.
Sagebrush Buttercup’s Wisdom
It’s time for sagebrush buttercup. Look at her bloom, even though she started in November and got blasted by the deep cold of February. Sagebrush Buttercup with a precious ball of deer […]
Okanagan Okanogan 