Packed with information (more information than most people want), informative, and interesting this is an Almanac for the 21st century. So if you hunt, fish, watch birds, garden, hike, camp, collect folklore, chase ghosts, canoe, or just visit the woods occasionally then this is the almanac for you. No one interested in the outdoors should be without one!

Even if you're only mildly interested in the outdoors, in nature, in the bewildering variety of life that surrounds us, then these books are for you. Each year The Waterman and Hill-Traveller's Companion is an almanac for real people to use in the real world.

It deals with the timing of nature - when the birds arrive and depart, when the frogs sing, when the snakes wake up, when the deer begin their rut - with a different entry for every day of the year. It covers the blooming times of wild flowers, the ripening of fruit and nuts, and the nesting times of birds... among many, many other things.

It also includes sections on gardening in our area — with a special emphasis on gardening by the signs — a section on local fishing and maximizing your catch by the moon.

The core of the almanac is the monthly Natural Events page. It contains more entries than the Natural Events Calender we post on the web, in a handy book you can stow in your backpack or throw in the glove compartment, and each month's entry features some of the most charming art in the hard copy of the Almanac. To see what we mean, view a picture of the August 2002 Natural Events Page.(The physical page is easier to read. And, while there is some repetition, there are many different entries in the Natural Events Calendar from year to year. So even if you have the current issue, be sure to check out this feature in the back issues.

The hard copy also supplies the Astronomical Events information. In addition, for you lovers of calenders, it has guides to planting vegetables, annuals, and perrenials, and on gardening by the moon, if you're so inclined.