The Hidden Seasons: A Calendar of Nature's Clues

Everybody notices the flowers of spring, longer days of summer, and colors of autumn. Very few notice the hundreds of changes that hide behind these annual events.

The sun, moon, stars, plants, fungi, animals, water, and weather all reflect seasonal changes back to us. Spring is the time of meteor showers, unique cloud shapes, and secret woodland sounds. Summer is a time of sky shadows, strange silences, and one-off colors. Autumn is laced with curious animal behavior and warm-water phenomena.

In The Hidden Seasons, New York Times–bestselling author Tristan Gooley shows us the deeper meaning behind these changes by connecting them with their hidden, complementary clues. A cloud of dancing insects in a sun pocket, for instance, marks a more interesting moment in the spring calendar than either the sun or the insects do alone—because it helps us to see the link between astronomy and animal behavior. In winter we expect snowfall, but there's a whole hidden world of meaning in every footprint; ice crystals in a deer print suggests the deer stood in that one spot long enough to melt the snow. In summer, ephemeral star compasses appear, only to hide away again by September; with Tristan as guide, you will not only see the stars that others miss, but also learn when these stars warn of summer storms. Come autumn, you'll discover how to predict the appearance of mushrooms. In twelve chapters, you'll uncover each granular seasonal change, month by month—every event an extraordinary occasion of its own—to more deeply understand the way nature makes its way through a year.