Light Rains Sometimes Fall : A British Year in Japan's 72 Seasons

See the British year afresh and experience a new way of connecting with nature
through the prism of Japan's seventy-two ancient microseasons.

Across seventy-two short chapters and twelve months, writer and nature lover Lev Parikian
charts the changes that each of these ancient microseasons (of just a few days each)
bring to his local patch—garden, streets, park, and wild cemetery.

From the birth of spring ("risshun") in early February to "the greater cold" ("daikan") in late January,
Lev draws our eye to the exquisite beauty of the outside world, day to day.

Instead of Japan's lotus blossom, praying mantis, and bear, he watches bramble, woodlouse, and urban fox;
hawthorn, dragonfly, and peregrine. But the seasonal rhythms—and the power of nature to reflect and enhance our mood—remain.

By turns reflective, witty, and joyous, this is both a nature diary and a revelation of the beauty
of the small and subtle changes of the everyday, allowing us to "look, look again, look better".

It is a perfect gift to read in real time across the British year.

"A fresh new look at the microseasons of nature's calendar, seen through Lev Parikian's eyes—
with his usual humour, attention to detail and beautifully written prose."
Stephen Moss

"Buy this book. Plant it somewhere handy and whenever you're in need of a 'spark of joy' pick it up and read a few pages.
Its wit will make you smile. It will transport you to a wilder, gentler, more beautiful world."
Ann Pettifor