Why a living almanac?

I write a best-selling annual book called The Almanac, and I find the changing of the seasons fascinating. But like many people, I live in a city, and am mostly behind a desk, from where it is easy for whole autumns to fly by without noticing.

My mission is to notice: the moon and the stars, the daffodils and the blackbirds, the rhubarb and the blackberries. I find it life affirming and joyous. It makes me feel tiny, it makes me feel grand.

And that is what this newsletter is about.

There is a weekly post of little seasonal changes that I spot: spiders webs breaking across my face as I walk down the garden path, first crumble of the season, blooms of frost flowers on the car windows, new bulb shoots, first rose buds, freckles on shoulders. This newsletter acts as a repository for these moments of mine that would otherwise flicker by unremarked, and I hope you will tell me yours too, in return.

I know a lot of people love to follow the phases of the moon, and it is easy to miss them. I post about each full moon, with a little information about other things to look out for in the sky at night.

I have also always wanted a place to talk a bit more expansively about the markers of the year, what they mean to me and ways of thinking about and marking them, and so I am making videos at key moments in the year for this newsletter: at midwinter and midsummer and the equinoxes, at Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lammas. A bit of history, a bit of how I feel about them, and maybe some suggestions for how to mark them yourself. I put these up a few days before the date, to give you some time to prepare and think about it for yourself.

Why subscribe?

You can subscribe for free, and currently all of these things will appear in your inbox at just the right moment each month, helping you to keep track of the changing year and to connect to the seasons.

There is also the option to take up a paid subscription if you would like to support me in my work. The weekly posts will always be free but soon I will be putting some of my work behind a paywall only for paid subscribers, which will support me to spend more time expanding my offerings here. I hope you will join me.