This is a placeholder blurb about articles. Here it will say a few things that mean something about Articles and the work.
Ascent Articles
Self-awareness and Yoga - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 40, winter 2008. What is my path toward & away from this earth? In the final installment of the yamas & niyama series, Eileen Delehanty Pearkes examines svadhyaya, self-study.
Child-rearing as an Act of Devotion - Originally published inascent magazine, issue 39, autumn 2008. How do we surrender all of our efforts & actions to the divine? Eileen Delehanty Pearkes questions isvara-pranidhanat, in the 9th of a 10-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas...
Can Meat-eaters practice Non-violence? - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 38, summer 2008. Can a meat-eating person practise non-violence? Eileen Delehanty Pearkes looks at ahimsa, in the 8th of a 10-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas.
- Wisdom of the Pines - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 37, spring 2008. As an ecological epidemic sweeps through the mountains of British Columbia, is anyone speaking the truth? Eileen Delehanty Pearkes listens to the trees in the 7th of a 10-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas.
Yoga and Purification - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 36, winter 2007. Eileen Delehanty Pearkes hikes into the fire zone & fights the urge to quit with tapas, self-discipline & purification in the 6th of a 10-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas. 
Yoga and Celibacy - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 35, autumn 2007. Does spiritual development require celibacy? Eileen Delehanty Pearkes looks at the nuances of brahmacarya in the 5th of a 10-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas.
Yoga and a Clean Mind - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 34, summer 2007. In the unglamorous underbelly of the garden, Eileen Delehanty Pearkes examines sauca: inner & outer cleanliness.
Yoga and Taking only what is Necessary - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 33, spring 2007. Smelly neighbours test Eileen Delehanty Pearkes’ concept of aparigraha: taking what is necessary. Tthe third in a ten-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas.
Yoga and Contentment - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 32, winter 2006. Eileen Delehanty Pearkes digs through piles of laundry & finds bliss. The second in a ten-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas.
Yamas, Niyamas & Bears… Oh My! - Originally published in ascent magazine, issue 29, spring 2006. Eileen Delehanty Pearkes explores her place in the food chain, her back garden & her dreams in the 1st of a 10-part series exploring the yamas & niyamas.
Columbia Monthly
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 […]
Other
- Thank you, Charlie Maxfield - Back in the year 2000, I picked up a hitchhiker named Mimi on my way up the Slocan Valley, doing research for The Geography of Memory. Mimi told me I just had to contact Charlie Maxfield, to see his collection of stone tools. The story about how Charlie shaped my research is in the book. […]
- A blue-violet miracle - At first glance, the recent discovery of a modest flower in the midst of a wet field of invasive grasses at the north end of Kootenay Lake seems to have no connection to the Columbia River Treaty. But in this era filled with first glances, we need to learn to dig deeper, to understand what […]
- Challenging conversations: a unique Stanford symposium on the Columbia River - Last week, Americans and Canadians gathered at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California to discuss the Columbia River Treaty, its proposed agreement in principle, and the uncertain future of the watershed’s cooperative management. For me, it was a trip back to the undergraduate university where I first learned how to think independently and write well. […]
- 600-Strong: whoever would have thought? - On Tuesday, March 25, the Columbia River Treaty negotiating team and associated politicians held a webinar about the status of the 2024 Agreement in Principle (AIP), which might also be termed the Agreement in Limbo….Since the imagined faucet comment, made by a certain US politician (see my November post), and since the tariff conflicts between […]
- Hockey and gravity - This morning, major U.S. news outlets led with a story about Mark Carney winning his bid for the leadership of the Canadian Liberal Party, replacing Justin Trudeau and his sunny ways. Storm clouds have been on the horizon between the two countries for a while now. The wind is picking up. In his acceptance speech, […]
- Salmon and Columbia River Treaty flood control - If you haven’t listened to Wide Open, an audio series about the 1973 US Endangered Species Act by Montana journalist Nick Mott, it’s worth a listen. His episode about the Tennessee Valley Authority and the small fish that almost stopped a dam being completed made me think of the Columbia River salmon populations. Before dams, […]
Coming Together in Portland - How will a new Columbia River Treaty flood control agreement find balance between American and Canadian interests?
The path of Mt. Rainier’s Snow - Touring Big River since June 1 has brought me into the sights of Mt. Rainier. On clear days, this pinnacle rises high above the Seattle skyline and busy port. I’ve been lucky enough to see it often during my time here. Most of the snow on Mt. Rainier descends to the ocean. The snow on […]
Nerding out about dams - He was smart, deeply interested in the ecological impact of dams, and understood immediately the national importance of the columbia River Treaty.
Winter Drought - For a while now, I have been following a remarkable turn of events in the upper Columbia River region. The Columbia River Treaty (CRT) is an international agreement between the US and Canada, for flood control and enhanced hydroelectricity. The CRT was entirely designed to provide spring storage of winter snowmelt, so that summer and […]