Reading Nature's Signs

I'm reading a delightful book called The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs by Tristan Gooley. Tristan is a Brit, but he does include information about the US. He covers all sorts of topics such as Ground, Trees, Plants, Sky and Weather, Stars, Sun, Moon and even Cities and Towns. His main point is that we just need to learn what to look for when we hike and walk around and as we do we can find clues to help us understand our area in more depth and even find our way to water or predict the weather.

Here's a sample. On a cloudless day, the sky will have a range of colors from blue to white. 'If you look directly overhead, you will see some very blue sky, but as you lower your eyes you will see the blue getting a little lighter in color until your eye reaches the horizon, where blue will have turned to white in all directions." Using this understanding, you can then test for the air quality. "If you screen out the sun itself by using an extended finger (two best), compare the color of the sky on either side of the sun to the blue parts of the sky. The bluer the sky is next to the sun, the purer the air is. This is because if the sun shines through an aerosol-free atmosphere the sky either side of it will appear blue, but aerosols create a bright, colorless "aureole" around the sun."

For fun, I tried this in my backyard today, but we do have clouds in the sky. When I blocked the sun, the air around it was not blue, so there must be some aerosols in the air or cloud interference. For weather, he states that paying attention to the wind and understanding the wind will help us anticipate changes in the weather.

I'm thinking that reading this book will help me become closer to the nature around me, give me great tools for future hikes and help me learn new areas when I travel again! I would love to find hike buddies or start a pagan hiking group at some point in the future or even soon, if we all mask and are vaccinated. Let me know if you are interested by emailing me at sococommin@gmail.com. I live far north in Sonoma County, but would travel a bit to get to a hike.