Today, Thursday, in the woods was again humid.

Before I left for the woods, I selected the belts for my martial arts students who were grading tonight. In one of the boxes of belts I found my skipping rope which I haven’t used for years.

I had a go and found I could still skip though not for long – a few seconds!

Recently, I read that skipping is one of the best exercises there is for general fitness and power. Boxers have used skipping for years to prepare themselves for strenuous fights.

Even the Roman soldiers used to skip with ropes made from vines. There was
nothing cissy about them!

Skipping is a quick way to lose weight, I’m told. Martial artists can use their belts to skip with if they haven’t got a skipping rope with them.

I saw no one in the woods except for one young couple near Soldiering Field and some squirrels.

One squirrel saw me and immediately ran to put some distance between him and me. He then felt secure enough to sit down and look back to see if I was running after him. I wasn’t!

The ground is now covered in acorns. Apparently pigs have been introduced into the New Forest to eat up the green acorns since these are poisonous to ponies. When they mature for a month or two, the ponies can eat them without damage.

Another pleasant but humid day in the woods this Sunday.

A family group were seated at the oracle of the oak tree. The two benches there are a magnet for families. There were about three different generations in this group.

I read a great email recently about making the most of spare minutes in the house. By walking about and going up and down the stairs, you can string together enough actions to count as a workout.

This must be a relief to those who are unable to walk into the woods but there is really no substitute for exercise outdoors.

Acorns are littering the ground now after the last two or three weeks of falling nuts. The black berries are finished after about only 4 weeks of edibility.

I spotted a beautiful red admiral by the blackberry bushes but foolishly had not bothered to take a camera with me.

However, I got some decent shots of a large fox at the back of the garden this evening. It just sat and looked at me as I took several photos and then suddenly got up and left.

Thursday, Sept 21st 2006, began with a visit to the dentist which gave me a chance to read up a bit more about Chislehurst and Petts Wood in his waiting room.

Apparently, Queen Elizabeth I may well have passed through Chislehurst on her way to Scadbury Manor to visit Sir Thomas Walsingham .

The ruins of Scadbury Manor can still be seen in Scadbury Park which is just across the road from Petts Wood. I don’t usually walk in Scadbury Park because the paths are less pleasant to walk on than the ones in Petts Wood but Scadbury Manor is well worth seeing.

It has a moat which is still working!

I took my usual route through Petts Wood and bumped into one friend whose name I had forgotten. He enlightened me and we had an interesting chat.

I didn’t meet any one else I knew but did pass two attractive ladies who were guarded by a doberman and a more friendly looking dog called Bindi.

No sign of any ghosts!

Today, Wednesday, was another pleasant day in Petts Wood.

I soon met up with two golden retrievers and their lady owner. We discussed the weather and I said I would like to see snow at Christmas.

She disagreed: “It will make it difficult for families travelling to see each other at Christmas.”

“The snow will keep the kids happy”, I countered

She, too, now came up with a benefit: “A harsh winter will kill off some of the rats who are overrunning the country. The weaker ones will die.”

“The stronger ones will breed more strong ones,” I countered.

We discussed mice and rats for the rest of the conversation and parted slightly depressed by the topic!

As I approached Soldiering Field, I saw a Scotsman looking up into the trees.

His dog came right up and stood sideways on to me and leaned half its considerable weight against my legs. I had some trouble keeping my balance!

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

“Walnuts”, he replied. I was surprised as I had no idea that walnut trees existed in Petts Wood but I was ready to believe even though the leaves of the trees he was looking at seemed like chestnut leaves.

He corrected himself: “I mean chestnuts”

Acorns and hazelnuts were already beginning to fall in the woods and one or two chestnut pods were also visible.

“What breed is your dog? ” I asked

“Burmese Mountain Dog,” he replied.

I was a little more cautious about believing him this time.

“It looks like a St Bernard,” I said

“No it is a Burmese mountain dog.” He seemed less sure of himself.

However, he was quite right. I checked on the internet and the Burmese Mountain dog picture there looks just like his dog.

They are described as friendly dogs developed to guard Buddhist Temples.
This dog was certainly friendly and leaning against me as if I was an old friend.

About 5 minutes further on I met up with a lovely lady with a great sense of humour. I have seen her so many times now that it would seem rude to ask her her name. She has a dalmatian, Meggy, who digs holes in the ground when she gets bored. She has now reached 10 but has not changed this habit for years.

She also has a very friendly and sweet natured lurcher who is now three. Apparently lurchers need more exercise than Greyhounds who need very little exercise.

I was fascinated to hear this as I aspire to be both slim and fast like a greyhound. Their habits match up with advice I have come across recently for humans that it is better to get fit by sprinting for short distances rather than jogging for long ones.

Sprinting or running uphill pushes the heart to its limits and thus strengthens it. It also fires up the metabolism so you can stay slim. Maybe we can learn from the greyhounds.

Meggy was by now going mad with her holes in the ground and was biting and pulling at tree roots so I said I had better move on and let her get her regular exercise.

Today, Monday, the woods were cool except when the sun was unobscured by clouds. Autumn at last !

I walked to the oracle of the oak tree and was delighted to see several people there especially as I had written that the oracle of the oak tree was dead and that an era had passed. I was clearly wrong.

As I approached, I was staggered to see Poppy alive and well sitting under the bench on which Reg was sitting quite happily.

I had written sadly about Poppy’s death last week after hearing the news from another regular in the woods.

Reg laughed and recalled a time a few years back when John who was the warden then had been surprised to see Reg, himself, alive and well!

Apparently a dog called Reggie had been killed by a falling tree and a rumour had spread that my good friend, Reg himself, had been killed by a falling tree.

I took a photo of Poppy and of Teddy, a bichon frise, belonging to Stella who was also sitting on the bench. A bichon frise means literally a curly lapdog. It can be seen in some royal portraits. Teddy is nervous but friendly.

Stella described how she and a friend called Joe were walking from the tunnel under the railway towards Soldiering Field.

They both saw a man walking behind them dressed in brown with wrappings round his shins of the kind designed to exclude rats from your trousers.

They thought he must be a poacher but I suggested he might have been a World War I soldier. They walked on and then looked behind. He had suddenly disappeared. Perhaps he had left the path a while earlier; perhaps he was a ghost.

As I had already seen the ghost of Poppy, I could not afford to be sceptical!
Reg told us he would try to contact us in the woods after he passed on!

As I neared the Willett Memorial I met a gentleman with a Chow. I asked if I could take a photo and he kindly agreed. He would not, however, give me the name of the Chow.

He may well have been suspicious that I might be a spy for the kidnappers of dogs who might well like to know the names of the dogs they planned to kidnap.

We chatted for a while but the Chow was whimpering and keen to walk on so I moved on past the memorial and home.

I did not spot any ghosts on my way.

Today, Saturday, I walked down the High Street of the town where Bob Hope was born and King Henry VIII was brought up – Eltham.

Bob’s cheery personality and wisecracks lifted the spirits of millions for years.

He is remembered by the Bob Hope Memorial Theatre just off Eltham Hill.

He was born in Eltham on May 29th 1903 and taken by his stone mason father to Cleveland, Ohio in 1907

Bob used to joke: “I left England at the age of four when I found out I could not be king!”

He was born into a large family with six brothers. This fact emerges in one of his jokes:

“I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance – waiting for the bathroom.”

In 1920, he became an American citizen. He travelled the world bringing sunshine into the lives of most of the audiences he entertained.

He lived to the grand age of 100 and had plenty to say about ageing:

“Middle age is when you still believe you’ll feel better in the morning.”

“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.”

“I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything till noon. That’s when it’s time for my nap.”

So many of his wisecracks, like the ones about ageing above were based on reality and helped people make light of their problems or, at least, see the funny side of them.

Bob saw the funny side of the claims of all religions to be able to bring you paradise

“I do benefits for all religions – I’d hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.”

We still need his cheery attitude today. He saw clearly the value of laughter:

“I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful. ”

Bob Hope had his critics but his critics do not make me laugh. Bob invariably did and still does.

Today, Thursday, the woods were damp with the rain from last night when it had both thundered and rained.

Half way round I saw not one but two British Bulldogs approaching. One started running as fast as its little legs would carry him. He leaped up and down and practically embraced me.

I stupidly asked: “British bulldog?”

“Yes,” the lady owner replied, “but he is not acting like one!”

I am not quite sure how British bulldogs are supposed to behave but they have always been seen as the epitome of tenacity and determination.

Their noses are turned back so that they can continue to breathe while they hold on to their prey. However, I am confident that tenacity and determination should not prevent you from having fun and playing around occasionally.

Later, I discovered considerable slobber on my track suit bottoms and little hairs clinging to the cloth. But this was a minor irritation and I am still glad to have met the playful bulldog.

Their faces are a picture to behold and must afford hours of amusement to their owners. They transcend ugliness and have their own kind of beauty!

Today, Wednesday, I went into Chislehurst, to have crown preparation and a temporary bucket crown fitted.

As I sat in the waiting room, I read a book about Edwardian Chislehurst. The author mentioned how, from the time of Henry VIII to Charles II , the Pett family had been shipbuilders and had used some of the oaks in Petts Wood for their ships which were built in Deptford.

Petts Wood was originally known as Pett’s Wood but later the apostrophe was dropped and the wood came by its modern name of Petts Wood.

The author had learned Victorian and Edwardian values from his parents and was never afraid of hard work. He soon learned that rewards came from hard work and effort.

Before he went to school every day, he would clean doorsteps for 6d a week.

This philosophy is less popular today than it used to be. Many people think it is stupid to work hard when easier routes to money are available. There is something to be said for both sides of the argument and you can guarantee that I will, God willing, eventually say it!

It has been another hot and humid day and I can now at 8.25 p.m. hear the thunder rolling out over Chislehurst and the local area. What a fantastic sound!

Today is, of course, 9/11 Monday 2006. It reminds us of 9/11 2001 when the twin towers were destroyed along with nearly 3000 precious human lives. 1000 bodies were never recovered.

Since then over 62,ooo lives have been lost in the war on terror. Pictures of the twin towers’ site and the remembrance services are on British TV now.

I entered the woods at about 12.30 p.m. and almost immediately met up with a British bulldog. I took a photo with the owner’s help and permission but we did not manage to get the dog, Brandon, to face the camera. He was too easily distracted by what was going on around him.

J and JJ showed up as I was taking the photo. She gave me the sad news that Poppy, Reg’s dog, had died in his sleep. I told J that it was the end of an era. All the people who used to meet at the oracle of delphi (the oracle of the oak tree) between 11 a.m. and noon regularly were no longer reliable attenders. Their dogs were either dead or too old to walk far.

J said she was old. I encouraged her with the thought that, when people pass on, everybody still alive would soon catch up with them while the ages of those who have died stay the same. As for those who die young, as did many in the twin towers and the world wars, “age shall not weary them”.

It was a bright summer’s day in the woods today – Sunday. I left the house just as the Formula One race at Monza was beginning.

I wanted to watch it but had to put exercise first. When you weigh over 20 stone you cannot afford to miss your exercise!

I saw at least two family groups as Sunday is a day for family groups to take a walk after their Sunday lunch together.

Often, we don’t really value our families until half of them have passed on.

I took my camera and photographed the gargoyle and a church spire and a plane.

The spire points us to greater and better things. How can we achieve better things? Decide on our priorities and focus on achieving them step by step.

A plane always reminds me of the RAF’s motto “Per Ardua Ad Astra”.
Any achievement will take hard work.

I arrived home just as the Formula One race was finishing.

Michael Schumacher won the race and then announced his retirement. Murray Walker, the great commentator, pinpointed the secret to his success as being his massive application to every aspect of his craft.

One reason for his retirement is that he feels he cannot give his racing career the time and effort it demands. His priority is now his family and the rest of his life.

Michael also believes in teamwork and his first action after his triumphant win was to walk over to his mechanics and other team members to give them a hug and words of appreciation.

There were tears in the Ferrari garage as they contemplated the end of his racing career but not every one was tearful. The head of the Renault opposition – Flavio Briatore – was asked how much he would miss Schumacher. His amazingly honest reply was:

“I won’t miss him at all!”