Equinox Shadows
An engaging group for the Beginner’s Guide to Natural Navigation course at the Royal Geographical Society yesterday. Diverse in age and interests as always. When…
Tag: Sun
Happy Equinox
At eighteen minutes past ten tonight, neither the north pole nor the south will be pointing towards or away from the sun and the sun…
The Dawn Sun, Sliding South
Another cracking dawn. There were four Roe deer in our neighbouring field, but sadly they scarpered before I got to my camera. I don’t actually…
The Sun’s Green Flash
Regular blog readers will know that I am a bit of a fan of Robert Pirsig’s book, ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance‘. I’m…
Equinox, books and other words that don’t rhyme…
Nice article on the Beeb website about the Saturn equinox. A succinct definiton of ‘equinox’ in the article too: ‘Equinox is the moment when the…
Staying in Touch
Apologies all blog readers. Firstly the last post wasn’t really fair. The picture quality isn’t good enough to be able to tell that the grasses…
Midnight Sun
Sticking with a midsummer theme for another day, I came across this picture today. It was taken in a place called Uttakleiv in northern Norway.…
Happy Summer Solstice
Happy Summer Solstice everyone. Sunrise and sunset will be closer to north than east or west at this time of year for most of Scotland.…
Weather to Go East
The two pictures above show two sides of the same bridleway signpost on the South Downs Way. The arrows both point east and there is…
Moss on Northern Sunny Side
As we approach the summer solstice the sun has so much north in it that no side of buildings, trees or other exposed areas will…
Ploughed Perspective
A walk along the edge of Nutbourne marshes on the weekend was an early taste of real summer. A sunny May day often feels hotter…
Political Animal Tracks
I try not to let politics enter my mind too much when out walking, but sometimes it helps to be aware of some of the…
Colours and Contours
The rape flowers are coming into bloom over the South Downs, but they don’t all bloom at the same time. The crop tends to be…
Find Your Way with Sheep
It’s 8.15am this morning out on the Downs and this sheep’s shadow tells us that we are looking south. Her wool, or ‘sheep fur’ as…
Contrails and Continents
This morning’s sun was a strong enough clue, but if we wanted to know which way was southeast then these aircraft contrails are pointing the…
Sunset Light
I can remember sitting at a restaurant in the small and perfectly formed fishing village of Trehiguier in southern Brittany last July. I had my…
The Dark Side of Sun Navigation
This isn’t about the Force, although I did read recently that a lot of Scottish policemen have put ‘Jedi’ down as their religion on their…
Cat’s Eyes, Dusky Skies and a Nice Surprise
Possibly the worst blog post title that I have yet come up with, and there have been a few… Our cat, Murphy, can be seen…
An Audience with the Almighty
My research into this subject constantly leads me, very willingly, back to the thin line that runs, curving between philosophy, religion, science and nature. If…
Wayward Wayfinding with the Moon
I’ve been experimenting over the past few nights, as we approached the full moon, with a technique that I’ve been working on that combines two…