A Lost and Found Reader
My thanks to Nicole for reading my book, this kind email and permission to share here: Hi Tristan, I have always considered myself a lost…
Category: Extraordinary
What is Earthshine?
Earthshine is one of those subtle phenomena that many people have seen without ever realising what they were looking at. On certain evenings, a thin…
New Podcast Interviews
I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with the lovely people at the Ask Nature and Passing Through podcasts.
The Meaning of Shadows on Water
What we see when we look at water is rarely water. It may be a reflection of the sky, if we’re looking across it, or…
Why are Some Cannons Fired at Noon?
The noon or midday gun is a traditional time signal: a cannon fired precisely at midday so ships in port could set their chronometers correctly.…
Gen Z Can’t Navigate Without Apps, Study Finds
A Carmoola study of 2,000 UK drivers revealed not only widespread gaps in car maintenance knowledge but also a growing weakness in navigation skills, particularly…
The Mushroom Hour: New Podcast Interview
I had a really enjoyable chat with Darren Racusen, host of the Mushroom Hour You can listen here: https://www.welcometomushroomhour.com/blogs/podcasts/ep-199-natural-navigator-how-to-read-trees-water-and-sky-footprints-feat-tristan-gooley Here is a summary from Podscan…
Spring Signs in the Sunday Times
There was another 6 page feature in the Sunday Times (paywall) over the weekend, featuring spring clues and signs from The Hidden Seasons.
Navigating with Trees in Cities
London plane trees are tall, broad-canopied trees with mottled bark that flakes away in patches of cream, grey, and olive. This gives their bark a…
What is a Corona in the Sky?
During a night walk in the early hours today, I was treated to the scene above, a beautiful corona. But what is a Corona? A…
This Morning on ITV
It was a fun morning on Friday, with the ‘This Morning‘ team in the ITV woods. It’s always an interesting challenge because I’m given about…
Winter Signs in the Sunday Times
There was another 6 page feature in the Sunday Times (paywall) over the weekend, featuring winter clues and signs from The Hidden Seasons.
Off Grid Podcast Interview
I had a chat with Jake Billsberry-Hawkins, founder of the Off Grid Podcast. We talked about natural navigation, of course, but also went a little…
Another Missive from ‘Horatio’
Thanks ‘Horatio’ for another very interesting email: Tristan, I was telling somebody the other day about a sight I experienced on the North Carolina Coast,…
Sensing Land at Sea
I’m just back from a short trip to Ontario, Canada, where I spotted this nice example of reflected waves creating a subtle new pattern. As…
The Smithsonian Magazine Feature
As part of the The Hidden Season’s launch in North America, some rare articles have appeared recently on the other side of the pond. The excellent writer,…
What are Contrail Shadows?
Contrail shadows form when the long thin artificial clouds formed behind aircraft cast a shadow on a lower, or occasionally higher, layer of cloud. Contrails,…
How to Navigate with Tree Trunks
From my book, How to Read a Tree, The whole tree responds to wind and this includes the trunk. Most are ‘skinny into wind’. Walk…
An Italian Poem for Tree-Lovers
My thanks to Francesco for this delightful email: Hello Tristan, Here is Francesco from Italy. I just finished “How to Read a Tree” and I’m…
How to Navigate Using Crops
We can navigate using a field of crops by tuning to any changes in height. The plants will never be the same height across a…
The Scented Weather World of Silvan Betschart
Silvan Betschart, a Swiss-born man, is a Wetterschmöcker, a natural weather forecaster who makes his predictions by observing nature. Silvan Betschart is the youngest of…