This week, I interrupted my coastal California research to rush home to Nelson, B.C., where I received the honour of Cultural Ambassador for 2017. It was a rude climatic shift – from 60 f. to 0 f. (about 15 c. to -12 c.!) It was also a reminder of the wonder and beauty of the […]
Exploring the Chaparral
The ranch where my mom grew up backs onto Los Padres National Forest, nearly two million acres of oak, pine, redwood and chaparral, stretching from near Santa Barbara to Big Sur. While these mountains are older and softer than the recently glaciated peaks of my home in Nelson, British Columbia, they offer abundant beauty and […]
Shifting Sands
Winter has chased me south to the Pacific Coast near Los Angeles as 2016 draws to a close. Here, I encounter the bright light etched across my childhood memories. Everything looks bleached and a little faded, except for the magical bougainvillia vine, spilling magenta and blood red blooms across chain-link fences and cement walls. On […]
River Love, Part 2
My map of the Incomappleux basin here, with help from my imagination. What this map cannot record is the quantity and persistence of the rain that fell during my trip into the heart of the valley to see the old trees. What the map does record is the relative amount of remaining, untouched […]
River Love, Part 1
The importance of wild rivers hits home to me again on a rainy September weekend as I explore my way deep into a notch valley of the Incomappleux River. I am searching for one of the last remaining stands of old growth cedar and hemlock in the upper Columbia Basin. It’s the last stop on […]
Gravity and Water’s Wild Card
Most summer afternoons, I settle into a natural hollow at the base of a sizable cedar tree beside Laird Creek. The creek burbles and runs, curling over cobbles, carrying water downhill. Lying back, I watch the tree’s cool branches spin and whorl above my head. Sometimes, I fall asleep, lulled by the joyful noise that […]