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So I was getting into my car and this bloke says to me: "Can you give me a lift?" I said: "Sure; you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it." Tommy Cooper Success is doing what you plan to do whatever the results. John Watson |
Walking in Petts Wood and The Hawkswood Estate Page 1Sept 2003 following
Although I live only about ten miles away from the heart of London, I am fortunate to have some woods close to my house. I walk there nearly every morning and have started to keep a log of some of my walks. "Walking is man's best medicine." - Hippocrates Nothing especially remarkable happens but often I am reminded of some life skill or lesson by some incident that happens on the walk. I hope you will find some of these ramblings interesting and even useful. If not, you know what you can do! To avoid embarrassing any of my fellow walkers I only refer to people by their initials unless I have asked their permission to use their names. It has been said that if your life is worth living, it's worth recording. Maybe you should be following my example and writing your own log if you are not doing so already. Writing a log of your walks also helps you notice things that otherwise you might not see. SInce writing this diary I have been on the look out for interesing sights and have remembered interesting conversations that I might otherwise have easily forgotten. Petts Wood was “bought by public subscription as a tribute to the work of William Willett the untiring advocate of British summer time in 1927”. Next to it is the Hawkwood Estate which contains Tong’s farm; a walled garden, several woods and other interesting areas. Altogether the area covers 388 acres. Petts Wood takes its name from a ship building family in the 15th century called Petts. They used the oak trees for building their ships. The wood is still full of oak trees. They line many of the foot paths through the woods. Thursday Sept 11th 2003 Even experts make mistakes
Today, on the anniversary of the Twin Towers tragedy, I went into Petts Wood for my usual morning walk. After a couple of hundred yards, I heard a thud on my left. To my amazement a squirrel had fallen out of a tree and was very close to me. The distance fallen must have been about 10 feet. It immediately bounced up and ran back towards the tree and climbed up again. Half an hour later I met a lady walking two dogs. The subject of the
falling squirrel came up and she was astounded. The same thing had happened
to her a few minutes earlier. "The stoats have been flogging them drugs." He has been reading too much of The Wind in the Willows. Friday Sept 12th 2003 The Heron Today, I came across a heron, for the third time, standing in Flushers Pond. The heron was standing in the pond – not me. The first time it had flown off the moment it saw me. The second time it was motionless probably looking for a carp for its breakfast. This time its head was moving from side to side presumably looking for threats to its safety unless it was admiring the view. Alan Clark, the Conservative politician, once shot a heron very reluctantly. It was eating about eight fish a day from the moat around his home. This heron stayed even when I leaned over a fence rail and stared at it for a minute or so. It had competently assessed that I was no threat to it. However, its awareness and alertness is a lesson to us all. We need to keep alert and vigilant even in our own homes. Possible danger is always present. I still teach a martial art at the age of 63 and about 15 of my students have been attacked in the street or elsewhere over the last 20 years or so. The vast majority have defeated their attackers or survived the attack. One student did survive the attack but ended up in hospital. He had gone into a cafe for breakfast and had a slight argument with a man and his girlfriend on his way in. My student did not notice the girlfriend go out to the car and return with a knuckleduster. As her boyfriend walked out of the cafe, he sideswiped my student in the face with the knuckleduster. If my student had been more aware, like the heron, he might well have left the cafe and found his breakfast elsewhere or, if he had stayed, he might have been more suspicious when the girlfriend visited the car. The way the heron focused on a possible fish with 100% concentration is also a lesson to us. Of course it might just have been asleep! Monday Sept 15th The setter This morning I walked about three hundred yards into the woods when a setter rushed up enthusiastically to say hullo. Unlike most dogs which were this full of energy and goodwill, it did not jump up. It sat down next to me and continued to look really pleased to see me. It was a pleasure to meet a well disciplined dog. The owner looked completely relaxed knowing that she would not have to tell the dog off. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dog had been trained to go deep into the bushes when it wished to relieve itself! It might even wait till it gets near home so that the owner would not have to carry the doo doo far. The Warden of Petts Wood constantly encourages dog owners to pick up their dog’s faeces and take them home to dispose of them. I know one dog owner who actually does this. Most probably don’t bother but I have seen one owner considerately push the mess off the path so people would be less likely to tread in it. On my walk today I did not see much dog mess but I did see one leaflet about holidays on the path.by Tong’s farm. One piece of paper is not much but picking one piece up daily would make quite a difference to the environment of Petts Wood. At home I have a list on my wall to remind me of what to do each day to keep the house organised. In case you might be interested this is it Palpots
Obviously, having thrown away one thing, one might be encouraged to throw away more and so on. If the above is too much to do daily, one could choose one thing to do on each day of the week and complete them all on a weekly rather than a daily basis. The power of daily and even weekly disciplines is enormous. Perhaps the most important activity in the above list is to study a book every day for at least a minute. If this is not achieved, the reading might need to become the very first activity of the day before other things crowd it out. Wednesday, 17 September 2003 A small piece of wood Zenden, the Chelsea footballer seconded to Middlesborough, talked on Sky Sport News today about how one little detail (for or against you) can swing a game. You just have to work hard and hope that luck will go your way. As I walked into Petts wood this morning, I learned a similar lesson. I trod on a small, round piece of wood which was hidden in the leaves. My ankle rolled over but not enough to break or even sprain it. I was lucky this time but should have noticed the lump of wood. In a football game a second’s lack of concentration can mean a goal is scored against you. In the woods, you can break your leg or sprain your ankle. Awareness and concentration can save us a heap of trouble. Driving is one time when total awareness is essential |
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