Walking the Hedge

As I cross my fingers and toes and murmur “Safe, safe, safe” to myself the airplane lifts, we take off and rise up abouve the river valley, passing over low mountains once as tall and mighty as the Rockies … or nearly so. Now they are withered and wind scored, worn down to their very bones. Overgrown with dust and sagebrush, bare rock thrusting out of the crust of the Earth and into a perfect Indian Summer sky.

I know this Province like I know my own body. I recite the names of rivers and lakes, peaks and towns like an invocation as we pass over. There runs the North Thompson River winding up a green valley surrounded by brown hills and low mountains. There is Salmon Arm; the Monashee Mountains give way to the Kootenays before we pass over the Arrow Lakes stretching up to the North and out of sight.

The Land grows greener as we move east. The green glorious peaks of the Kootenays give way to the snow caped Rockies. Rising up like great waves upon an angry sea of earth, stone, snow and forest, the Rockies are an impressive sight to behold whether you are… Continue reading →