On an early August morning, Bree McKeage stood among the vines in paint-splotched work pants and Crocs, sunglasses on, a tattoo peeking from beneath her sleeve.
asserted
tattoo → stand → sleeve
She pointed to the hills beyond the vineyard.
asserted
She → point → vineyard
Three fires were burning around the Okanagan Valley – one near Summerland, another in Manning Park, a third near Vernon.
asserted
fires → burn → Vernon
Smoke had swallowed the sun-bleached vineyard.
asserted
Smoke → swallow → vineyard
The mountains beyond had disappeared into a grey haze.
asserted
mountains → disappear → haze
The air tasted of ash.
asserted
air → taste → ash
The long, glacier-carved basin is threaded with vineyards and orchards of peaches, cherries and nectarines.
asserted
basin → carve → peaches
It has also embodied a summer ideal: hot, dry days, aquamarine lakes, vines heavy with grapes and long evenings outdoors.
asserted
It → embody → grapes
Even the names – Peachland, Summerland, Lake Country – seem to promise leisure and abundance.
asserted
names → seem → leisure
But ever since Ms. McKeage and her partner, Rajen Toor, bought their Keremeos, B.C., vineyard in 2022, they have been fighting to keep it alive.
asserted
they → buy → it
Three weeks after taking possession, a deep freeze killed every vine in the vineyard.
asserted
freeze → take → vineyard
They replanted, but the new vines would take years to mature.
asserted
vines → replant → years
Two years later, another record-breaking polar vortex sent temperatures plunging to –30 C, killing most of those new vines.
asserted
vortex → break → vines
The shorthand for the Western Canadian dream, for generations, has been: You were born in Regina, made your money in Alberta and retired in Kelowna.
asserted
You → bear → Kelowna
The Okanagan was the reward, where a lifetime of work in unforgiving weather could give way to something gentler.
uncertain
lifetime → give → something
That dream helped make the region what it is today.
asserted
it → make → ?
People came to farm, to visit, to settle, to retire, to raise families.
asserted
People → come → families
But the very climate that once made the Okanagan fruitful and drew generations of sunseekers is now beginning to undermine both its bounty and its appeal.
asserted
Okanagan → make → bounty
Deep freezes have wiped out entire peach, nectarine and cherry crops, and, in some cases, entire vineyards.
asserted
freezes → wipe → cases
Smoke is ruining vintages.
asserted
Smoke → ruin → vintages
Fires are keeping away summer visitors.
asserted
Fires → keep → visitors
The forces driving those fires are becoming more extreme, too.
asserted
forces → drive → fires
On Aug. 7, when the Bald Range fire erupted near Summerland, the BC Wildfire Service reported that fuel conditions across the region were the driest ever recorded.
asserted
conditions → erupt → region
“We’ve been in triage for four years,” said Ms. McKeage, who was raised in Alberta, the daughter of a rancher and farmer, and worked in finance before turning to wine a decade ago.
asserted
who → say → wine
But after four years of rebuilding, Ms. McKeage, who also owns Bella Wines, a local winery, was finally making her first vintage from her very own vineyard.
asserted
who → rebuild → vineyard
The couple had put off having children, waiting for the vines to take hold.
asserted
vines → put → hold
Instead, they were harvesting smoke-tainted grapes, still fighting to make and sell just enough wine to keep the bank at bay.
asserted
they → harvest → bay
The strain was affecting their marriage and their health.
asserted
strain → affect → marriage
Everything else was being delayed: the tasting room, the landscaping, the babies they’d hoped would by now be bouncing on their knees.
asserted
they → delay → knees
Ms. McKeage is willing to consider walking away.
asserted
McKeage → consider → ?
Mr. Toor, who was raised on a winery in nearby Oliver, would have to be dragged out.
asserted
who → raise → Oliver
“Sometimes I’m like, how much further should we go?” she says.
asserted
she → ’m → ?
“To the end,” he’ll reply.
asserted
he → reply → end
Would she buy the vineyard again, knowing what she knows now?
asserted
she → buy → what
“No,” she said, her voice suddenly husky.
asserted
voice → say → ?
“The old way is gone.
asserted
way → go → ?
We haven’t properly mourned it.
asserted
We → mourn → it
We haven’t recognized it.
asserted
We → recognize → it
We’re all still trying to make the past happen.”
asserted
past → try → ?
“There’s no point in saying, we’re resilient, we’ll rebuild,” she said.
asserted
she → ’ → ?
…and 144 more, not listed.
The Aporia
