Today, Wednesday, I again did two walks. One at 9.45 a.m. and one at 9.15 p.m. The benefits of walking twice yesterday were immediately obvious today as I achieved more than I usually do. I thought it wise to repeat the process today.

In the morning I met up with N who used to walk her dog every day in the woods. When the dog died, she no longer walked in the woods.

In the evening walk I met up with A, who had just finished walking S, the family dog. A finds that he is the only member of the family willing to take the dog out although he has been working hard all day.

But again the motivation of a lively and friendly dog is enough to draw A out of the house into the cold night or day.

My grandad was a great walker but he was probably given extra motivation by the enthusiasm of his lakeland terriers. The mere mention of “walkies!” was enough to send his terriers into an ecstasy of excitement. No one could resist such enthusiasm.

The power of enthusiasm is enormous. It can cover up a multitude of deficiencies and attracts others to whatever you are enthusiastic about.

If you lack enthusiasm, try acting enthusiastic like Frank Bettger, the baseball player. He found this worked like magic and helped him move into the major leagues in both baseball and later in sales.

Today, Tuesday, I went for two walks round the local neighbourhoood. In other words, I doubled my usual daily effort.

My second walk was at 10 p.m. Not a living soul was about; not even a dog owner.

In my last blog I mentioned the footprints in the cement. Tonight I noticed little lights built into the cement drives of two houses.

Light is a wonderful thing and a great symbol of guidance and enlightenment.
I even thought I saw some Christmas tree lights still up in one sitting room!

Under eleven months to next Christmas already.

I don’t really have much of importance to say today except maybe that doubling my walks like I have done is probably a sign of progress.

Double and redouble your efforts and see what happens! Maybe your life will become more exciting and things will start to happen at last!

Today, Saturday, I was out early shopping and then walking around the neighbourhood.

I saw a man looking at the pavement intently. When I approached closer, I recognised an old friend, John.

He had been looking in some disgust at the footprints in wet cement on the pavement outside his house. Someone had clearly deliberately walked across the wet cement because he had pushed aside the barriers and sacking that were protecting the fresh cement.

I commented that we all want leave our mark on the planet. We are here for such a short time that we want to make some kind of difference before we go.

The time was shorter than they thought for two graffiti artists who were killed recently on a railway track. Both were in their early twenties.

None of us know how long we will be here so we had better get going if we want to make any kind of difference to the life of the world.

Yesterday, winds of 100 miles an hour hit Britain and 11 people died. One man’s car was hit by a large trunk of a tree but he managed to climb out of the car window.

As I walked around the neighbourhood today, Friday, I saw one tree broken off at the stump in Clarendon Way. Extreme weather is part of the global warming syndrome. Both warming and extreme weather were symbolised in Clarendon Way this morning.

A little further along Clarendon Way from the broken tree was a palm tree and next door were three palm trees. Were the palm trees able to grow mainly because of global warming? I’m not sure but it is a possiblity.

The fence between one of my neighbours and myself has blown down. I am not sure who is responsible for the fence. Hopefully, there will not be a dispute over who pays for clearance and repair!

Today, Thursday, I took the long pavement route. Again I missed the rain. It is great to watch it coming down on to the window once one is safely inside.

It is very windy today reminding me of the years I lived on the Isle of Man which was frequently a windy island.

Winnie the Pooh would have called today a ‘blustery day’. I love the illustrations in the book. They give such days a kind of magic.

I passed the postman on route and said: “What a lovely windy day”.
He replied “Lovely!” He was clearly thinking that I was being ironic.

Wind has always symbolised inspiration and the presence of God’s spirit. It can move you or motivate you along. I felt the wind at my back helping me up a slight slope in Wimbourne Avenue. Sailors truly appreciate the power of wind.

I came across a great quote from Ferando Cruz yesterday:

“You will accomplish a lot more with movement than you will with motivation. So MOVE. Create action. Make plans and stick to them.”

Of course movement is in fact one form of motivation. If you take action, you will motivate yourself to take more action but the statement rightly stresses the importance of movement or action.

It is saying that it is important not only to learn and be inspired by reading (input) ; it is important to learn and be inspired by moving (output).

Today, Tuesday, I took the ‘long’, clockwise pavement route and managed to avoid the rain.

The dead fox was removed a few days ago and all the decorations are now down including the ones that needed ladders to take down.

No 22, a house in one of the local roads, is called Two Little Ducks for obvious reasons. It had two statues of ducks on the front porch over Christmas with red hats on their little heads. They have now gone inside for another year.

I miss them and the Father Christmas that used to dangle from the window above them!

I met J and JJ on my travels. J had just been on an hour and a quarter walk through the woods and both she and JJ looked tired. I suggested that sometimes a shorter walk was better for you than a longer walk .

Maybe I am just excusing myself for not walking further but I notice that that endurance runners appear to drop dead more frequently than those engaged in shorter more intense running.

Today, Sunday, I took the longer pavement walk expecting to get wet as it has been raining on and off all day. I didn’t as I had picked the right time to walk.

Sadly a fox had clearly not picked the right time to cross the road. I came across its dead body on the pavement as I entered Kevington Drive from
Marlings Park Avenue.

It looked dead but I touched its paw with my foot to make sure. There was absolutely no response.

I have no idea whose fault it was that the fox had died. Maybe it had been careless or maybe the driver had been going too fast in a built up area.

Someone at least had had the decency to move the body to the pavement.

All Christmas decorations should have been takendown yesterday but some were still up. One man was high up on a ladder taking his lights down and my favourite Father Christmas had finally ended his struggle to climb the roof by using a rope hanging from a window. I was sad to see him go.

The other Father Christmas on top of a roof had gone some days before.

My neighbour opposite was taking his lights off a large tree in his garden as I arrived home. I need to take down our own decorations myself!

I shall put them in a handy place since Christmas 2007 will arrive sooner than we think! The older you get the faster time flies so if you are still young make the most of the time you have. It will go faster than you expect!

Today, Tuesday, I did the short pavement walk. It was cold and quite windy.

I passed an area with the dire warning ‘Danger Of Death’. It was on a fence which surrounded some kind of electricity generator.

I knew the power of electricity well. When I was a boy in a Japanese concentration camp in World War II, we would, at times, have roll calls early in the morning.

There were some low hanging wires over the parade ground and I remember seeing a young man jump up and grab a wire. He was unable to let go. I am still not sure whether he lived or died but the incident brought home the danger of live wires.

Hopefully, the owners of houses near electricity generators are able to buy their houses cheaply.

On my return home, I heard some interesting advice on TV directed at skiers.

Most skiing injuries occur on the first day skiing and near the end of the holiday when the skiers are tired and also on the last day when they go out for a last fling.

Prepare for your skiing holiday and you are less likely to be injured. Improve your balance and strength by hopping. Lunge forwards with one leg for balance and strength. Alternate your legs.

Do not claim to be better at skiing than you actually are – and most of us tend to overestimate our abilities!

If you claim to be an experienced skier, your clamps will be tightened up so
that the skis will not drop off easily if you run into problems. You are then more likely to twist and damage your knees.

A stress expert then came on who said we often worry too much unnecessarily. She suggested that we don’t need to change what is going on around us. Just change what you think about it. Think positively and you will feel much less stress.

To sum up: Do not take risks with electricity. You could die.

Prepare so you can lessen the chances of injury when you do any risky activity like skiing.