The natural Navigation: The Right Course, Naturally

Happy New Year!

At times like this, I sometimes wonder what the Earth and Sun would say to each other if they could talk. They would watch us celebrating this annual moment at such an arbitrary time…

Sun: I could understand a party at either solstice…

Earth: Yes, or one at either equinox. Would make good sense…

Sun. Quite. But to pick a day about a week after one solstice…

Earth: Very strange.

Sun. Yes. They are a very strange lot.

In this picture of a beech tree in Wiltshire, we can see both moss and lichens thriving in the moist air close to the ground. Water evaporates constantly from the ground and moisture-loving organisms, including mosses, lichens and algae, will be found close to the ground regardless of aspect.

Direction can be found by looking for clues above this area or sometimes by getting to know the lichens…

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After the rather disgusting photograph a few days ago I thought it was time to right the balance with something more pleasing on the eye.

The snow has finally begun to thaw in this freezing microclimatic corner of West Sussex, but I did manage a fair amount of stomping around in the snow over the past week. This is a picture I took in my local beech woodland a couple of days ago.

Lichens are very sensitive to their environment – moisture levels and air quality in particular – but also the surface they grow on. This means that they can be used to understand direction, but a little local knowledge and familarity with the stones and barks of your area helps greatly.

There is a rust-coloured lichen that is clearly not keen on surfaces that dry regularly and can be found on the moist sides of many trees…

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Last night the conditions felt right for a walk in the woods. There were plenty of clouds, but large gaps suggested that the stars would not hide for long periods. The moon would not be getting up until later and the breeze was too light to be of help. I needed the stars.

I set off as the last light from the sun faded in the southwest. Cassiopeia and Cygnus neatly sketched out north for me, even when Polaris was well hidden. When moving south I used Jupiter and Aquila.

Four hours later I returned, having spent nearly all of it alone, in beech woodland and without using a torch. Moving at times with my left hand extended out to fend off inquisitive lower branches, I covered about six miles; this was no race.

In every woodland walk there are times when you feel the forest is on your side…

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Those who have been kind enough to spare a few moments to notice my strange interests will be well aware that I like a puddle.

The puddle tells a story, one of rain, sun and wind, but it is not alone and lives as part of a bigger family of obstacles. The fallen tree or branch that blocks our path is so often relegated in our thoughts, if it reaches them at all, to a lowly hindrance not worthy of consideration. But, for those who care to look for them, all obstacles contain a story. Storms, failing ground, disease… what caused the tree to fall? The story will continue after we have made our way past the obstacle too. How long will it be there? Who, if it is not us, will move it and why?

Obstacles are prompts to ask questions. They are opportunities for us to let a…

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We are bearing down on stargazing-season. It is getting dark early enough in the evenings, staying dark long enough in the mornings and doesn’t yet freeze you for the privilege.

This morning I enjoyed a view of Orion, Sirius, Leo, which has just marched ahead of the dawn sun now, and a few other players. I took this photo of Orion’s Sword hanging down to the left (eastern) side of a large beech tree and dangling down towards the south, as it does. The ‘smudge’ in the middle is the Great Nebula in Orion, also known less romantically as ‘M42′. It is a ‘stellar nursery’ where new stars are born. Would a more appropriate term not be a ‘stellar maternity ward’?

On a different subject, my best wishes and good luck to Kevin Shannon who is attempting a zero-emissions circumnavigation of the globe. He asked me for my thoughts,…

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I returned from a family trip to Brittany yesterday and what better welcome back than to come downstairs this morning to find Jupiter beaming at me through a skylight. It is a firm fixture in the early morning sky now and consequently is being confused by many for Venus. If a bright white object is visible when it is too light to see many stars then you are likely looking at Jupiter or Venus, and if the sun is more than fifty degrees away (five extended fist-widths) then that narrows it to Jupiter. This is an exercise you only need to do irregularly since it will appear in the same part of the sky at the same time for many days.

Since Venus is relatively close to the sun and is only visible as a bright object when the sun is below the horizon, it follows that Venus is normally…

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Last night I went for a run through some beech woodland. The perfect tonic after twelve hours straight on the book.

Picking up on a theme I touched on a few days ago, it is remarkable and delightful how differently we all see the world. Yesterday during a short course in the South Downs, we were sitting on a bench with a great view having a drink of water and a snack. It is a bench and view that I have come to know very well, at least I thought I had.

Scale is such a key to reading the land, the ability and conscious decision to zoom in and out, from miles of landscape one minute to the tiniest patch of lichen the next. Maggie who was sat only two feet from me, spotted something in front of us that I had never noticed before. Her eyes were clearly picking up colours more sensitively than mine yesterday as she had picked out some shades of purple in a distant woodland…

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The more I study natural navigation, the more indebted I feel to trees. There are few environmental conditions that they do not make some effect to reflect. Sun, rain, shade, heat, cold, dryness, dampness, soil type… and in this case snow and wind.

Early on Monday morning these young beech trees pointed very dependably to NNE with their white lines. I was able to leave the path with confidence.