Wild Signs and Star Paths

This book contains a wealth of information that will help you to reconnect to the countryside, no matter how much you already know, or think you do.I picked up several titbits of information in my initial read through that I had sort of been aware of before but not consciously, as well as things that had passed me by. For example, I can now have a pretty good guess at my direction of travel during the day or a cloudless-night (a challenge in the UK, admittedly) thanks to the knowledge acquired about the tick shape in trees and the orbit of the constellation of Orion through the night sky.Something I already knew well was how to assess the distance of a thunderstorm, albeit my count for seconds is ‘Mississippi’ rather than ‘elephants’, the result being the same number of seconds to divide to get miles or kilometres and thus whether you are likely to get drenched or reach your destination beforehand.In the days when it appears many children do not know where their food comes from, this is a welcome font of knowledge about the natural world and how to achieve a better understanding and awareness. Although I already did know a reasonable amount of the content, intuitively or as actual knowledge, I have already purchased a copy to gift to someone that has a similar appreciation and wish to understand more.

I’m sorry to say that I couldn’t even finish this book. Got halfway through but it was just too boring. It’s very disjointed and full of waffly very short stories about walks he has taken. I also found it quite pretentious in places. I bought on the recommendation of a friend and was expecting a little bit of history on the subject and some clear guidance but it was just waffle.

Unfortunately having been in the army and done a lot of navigation at sea when ocean racing I didn't learn anything from the book. I found many of the chapters pretty repetitive, which was sad as it is quite a well written book.

I’m a city dweller and feel that I don’t connect with the outdoors enough. I bought this to give me more of an understanding of the way that our environment and nature can guide us. Have tested the signs and paths a few times now. They take awhile to get in some cases and others are easy to pick up. All written in a charming way.

As soon as lockdown2020 is over, I intend to fully immerse myself in nature until I can no longer lose myself.