This is the shore of Okanagan Lake in Vernon. I’ve never seen it this colour before. It doesn’t look good, though. Normally, it’s the colour of ground-up granite, which around here is […]
What is this Red Stuff in the Lake?
Totem-Land
In 1951, there was a move to brand British Columbia, that wandering northern chunk of Cascadia, as “Totem-Land.” Maybe it was a cunning move: to get everyone interested in Indigenous family trees […]
Do Temporary Foreign Workers Feed the Okanagan?
I dunno. Here are some of these hardworking guys planting Frind’s industrial vineyard in Vernon. It’s hard to say, isn’t it. Wine, a tourist product, sold at about $22 a bottle, may […]
Beyond the Settler Gaze
Beams of light, we say, meaning lines. Dusk on the Big Bar Esker Beams of light, we say… …meaning trees. A beam is a Baum, the Germans say, a bough, they say […]
March 2 and the Apples are Ripe
Cherries, too. It is a lesson in ending anthropological thinking. What would our valleys look like if we grew fruit for the birds, and then, rather than harvesting it for fruit or […]
Grassland Tours for the Okanagan?
Grass evolved to thrive in hot fire landscapes. Given that human activity has increased heat and fire … … across the planet … … shouldn’t we stop mowing grass and … … […]
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 […]
Would You Go on a Winter Flower Tour?
You’d have a good time, I’m sure. It would draw thoughts away from Winter-Is-A-Catastrophe and Global-Warming-Is-Ruining-Things-This-Month-Alone. And that’s a good thing. Oh, and Birds. They look like flowers up there, don’t […]
The Okanagan’s Dirty Secret
Is it the Dirty Laundry Winery? No. That’s actually a little bit of colonial Canadian culture using the Okanagan to market Canada to itself by romanticizing prostitution. That’s easy. No, no, I mean […]
The Last Hurrah
The world is burning this summer, but, darn it, some people are still going to have fun. Smoke be damned. It can hardly be about romance. Grim determination, perhaps. I dunno. I […]
Okanagan Okanogan 