Those of us who live in the city, and that is most people around the world in this 21st century, can sometimes feel that we are isolated from nature, cut off in an unnatural way from our natural environment.
I was moved to write this diary one evening in June 2014, when I was waiting outside my daughter's friend's house and heard the most exquisite sound of a blackbird singing as the dusk fell. It came home to me that this kind of uplifting experience of nature is available to us city-dwellers; we just need to tune into it more. It is there, but we are too often too busy to be aware of it and give it a bit of our time and attention; which it pays back many times over.
This book was written in a small city in the south of Britain, but I do believe that the wonderful things I noticed are available everywhere for those that would seek them - after all - almost every city has green areas, lakes, rivers and parks; don't they?
It covers June, July and the first half of August, so that is most of the British summer; in the year 2014.
I hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it, and are inspired to notice and gain joy from the nature around you, whether you are a city-dweller yourself or not.