WELCOME RAINS HAVE ARRIVED

It’s almost a week since posting a blog so I better get busy or I’ll get an e-mail, usually from a relative that says something like: “What’s up?, no posting for almost a week.” Last time that happened I had a good excuse, the arrival of a new great-granddaughter on May 21st, all six pounds and ten ounces of sweetness and love. Not that I had much to do with it, but one set of grandparents from U.S. arrived for a month to welcome her. They drove to town from their hideaway near Kelowna each day to visit her and my son stopped by to tune up a few things in my condo like replacing light bulbs and ailing widow blinds.

June is often a rainy month for the Okanagan Valley and true to form it’s bringing the much needed rains, even a bit of snow on the nearby Silver Star Ski Hill. So far the rains have arrived mostly during the night, and will protect the forests and hopefully avoid the fires like we had last year.

Diana Beresford-Kroeger, a botanist and agricultural researcher, lecturer and scientist in the field of classical botany and medical biochemistry wrote ARBORETUM AMERICA, A Philosophy of the Forest, published 2004, 2005 and 2006. Photographs are by Christian H. Kroeger. This wonderful husband and wife team have presented nearly two hundred pages in printed word and pictures that virtually dance from its pages. The Acknowledgment page adds, “Without the continuing support of my husband and his editorial skills this book would never have seen the light of day.”

The news gets even better. A new book about America’s Arboretum is in some bookstores and will no doubt soon be available locally. I do not have one yet but if you mention the author’s name at the store or at your local library they will soon have it available. Since all plant life helps with our own personal breathing apparatus it is a good cause to be aware of and do our part to protect us all.