The Water Quarter

In my previous article, I introduced the four elemental themes for this year. Now we're in it - The Water Quarter. And I'm very aware of my internal rhythm being very s l o w this time of year. I spent a big chunk of my holidays enjoying time with my sister, rainy days in Seattle, hot chocolate, and watching Stranger Things. Which, honestly, feels right for this season.

That slowness is data too. I could track how often I drink something cold versus warm, and see if that varies depending on whether it rained that day or not. Or I could sit by my window and follow my curiosity around what conditions precede cloud formation—whether I can learn to predict when it might rain, sort of like Tristan Gooley does with natural navigation and weather reading.

Both are valid. Both are interesting. The question is: what pulls at your curiosity right now?

If you've been following along, you know the process: start with a theme (Water), narrow it to something specific you're curious about, then identify the attributes you'll track. If you need a refresher on moving from broad theme to specific trackable question, go back to the earlier articles in this series. The short version: notice something, get curious about it, ask a question you can test by collecting observations over time.

Here are a few questions I'm curious about this quarter. These are purely my hypotheses without having done much research, and there may be no patterns at all. The idea isn't to arrive at the correct answer at the end of the exercise — sometimes it's just to validate a question or learn that you need to ask it differently. Don't try to force an answer or a correlation where it doesn't exist. Also, there are no silly questions! 

Is petrichor a reliable predictor of rain? Track the timing between when you smell petrichor (that earthy smell) and when it actually rains. Does the gap stay consistent? Is it minutes, hours, or does it vary wildly? You might find it's predictable in your location, or you might find it tells you nothing useful about timing.

Is there a specific temperature, humidity, or other condition during which slugs and snails, or mushrooms appear after rain? Track rain events, temperature, humidity (if you can), and when you spot slugs or snails or mushrooms afterward. Are they out immediately, or do they wait for certain conditions? Maybe they need warmth plus moisture, or maybe they just need moisture.

How does bird and insect activity correlate with the timing of rain? Track when you hear the most birds or see the most insects at various intervals during the day, and note when it rained and for how long. Do they go quiet during rain and return immediately? Do they get louder before rain? Is there a pattern, or is it random?

Do rainy days make you forget to drink water? Track your daily water intake alongside outside temperature and whether it rained. I suspect rainy days make me drink less, but I haven't tested it. Maybe it's temperature. Maybe it's something else. Maybe I'm wrong.

These questions are very specific to San Francisco which is where I live, perhaps you might relate to water very differently where you live and may walk a very different curiosity trail than me.

Personally, I am excited to learn whether cloud patterns can reliably predict rain. Over the next few days, I'll observe how clouds change in the 24-48 hours before it rains with/without my journal. I’ll also pay attention to my other senses but primarily my focus will be clouds. If I notice a repeating pattern, I'll define the attributes and start tracking systematically. If no repeating pattern emerges, I'll restart with a different question or the question asked differently.

Remember, the process of exploration has many dead ends, and starting over is progress too. Sometimes the most useful thing you learn is that you need to ask the question differently.

I'll share updates as I go. Maybe you'll join me. Maybe you'll go a completely different direction. Either way, let's notice water together this quarter.

Again, I promise that the next article will be more tools and a focus on the HOW, and less philosophy (The WHAT). Tooodles!!