Redfish Creek flows into the West Arm of Kootenay Lake, close to where I live. This aptly named creek has long been a spawning grounds for the region’s kokanee, a sockeye species identical to the ocean version, except that it adapted to live in freshwater only when it was stranded here long ago by melting […]
Uncategorized
Thank you, Mr. Sun
Today is the longest of the year in the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice. When I stepped out onto my deck, a small sun greeted me in the form of a Zinnia flower. I have been watching it for several days as it tried to open its bright face to the world. What a perfect […]
The Howling Wolf Moon
The moon is full today. I woke early to its light spilling in through La Tortue’s side window. Dellie was happy to rush down to the beach with me to watch the moon set in the west, just as the sun rose in the east. These moments of alignment — when sun-and-moon, yin-and-yang, and light-and-dark […]
How I do love you, Nelson
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 […]
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 […]
In search of Springbank Clover
Phase II of my 6,000 mile search for beauty took me on another road trip last week – to the Broughton Archipelago. This smattering of rocky islands between the west coast of British Columbia and Vancouver Island has been home to the Kwakwaka’wakw indigenous tribe for thousands of years. I was drawn to feel for […]