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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 20Monday February 7th 2005 Today was a fine, spring day. I took the camera
and filmed the clockwise route through the woods.
Sunday 13th February 2005 A few flakes of snow fell today and the weather was beautifully cold. Even the gunge on Flushers pond seems to have disappeared - a miracle! I strained a calf muscle going down Botany Bay Lane and limped along for the rest of the walk. The weather has been so mild this winter that the brambles are already starting to reach out over the paths. Tuesday 22nd February 2005 It was snowing last night and this morning so I headed off about midday plus camera to film the woods in snow. I took a short route as my calf muscle was still slightly painful. Unfortunately, most of the snow had already melted from the trees so the snow was mainly lower down on the ground or caught in the leaves of trees which keep their leaves over winter. However, too mini snow showers occurred while I was in the woods. Hopefully some of this came out in the photographs I took. It did as you can see below.
Monday 28th February 2005 I took the short route again as my calf muscle is still dodgy. I met the warden as I set off. We discussed holidays. I take the view that there is hassle when you go and hassle on the return journey. The Warden only partly agreed. He had had a great journey to Boston USA last year and then gone on to Maine where he had a great holiday but there was endless hassle on the return journey to the UK with lots of rerouting and lost luggage into the bargain. I usually enjoy the holiday once I get there but the travel hassles and time wasted put me off. Attending seminars in London is enough to make me feel like I've had a great holiday. Tuesday March 1st 2005 I applied one of the acronyms from my recent book
on the walk today. The book is called The 6th chapter focuses on 3 key laws about achieving your goals. They are summarised by the three letter acronym: DAB-Discipline, Anyway, Bit by Bit. I didn't feel like going for a walk in the cold and rain but remembered the key factor about discipline - do what you have planned whether you feel like it or not. On my return, I usually do some weightlifting but was about to put it off until tomorrow. The law about doing things anyway even if you think they are a waste of time came to mind. I did the weightlifting today and was glad I had made the effort. I also did more lifting than usual by following
the law of bit by bit. Lift ten times and then ten more and so on until
you reach a larger number than you planned originally. Thursday 3rd March 2005 Today was so cold that I jogged or staggered all the way round -1200 paces to the Willet Memorial; I then reached a total so far of 2000 to the bridge by Flushers pond; I reached 2600 at Botany Bay Lane; 3000 by Tong's farm; 4000 by the Kyd Brook tunnel under the railway; 5000 just past the second tunnel under the railway and 5700 to the exit at Marlings Park. All this was anti-clockwise. I met Reg on the way; he had recently slipped and ended up sitting in a small stream; not very nice in the cold weather. He had had to stand up on the train home. I ended by doing 200 situps 50 leg ups 50 bench presses and 20 shoulder presses. I also hung from an iron bar for a few seconds and did some knee splits. My calf muscle problem disappeared for a while. Not too bad for an icy day! Monday 7th March The weather was mild today so I just walked clockwise round my usual route. There was no icy cold to spur me into a jog. Near the railway my calf muscle start playing up a little so I limped along the muddy path by the railway I passed a giant of a man and his wife. I resisted the urge to ask how tall he was. Maybe I will later after I have said 'Hullo' a few times Strangely enough I met another giant at my martial arts school in the evening. He had brought his tiny two and a half year old daughter along to train. Normally I don't take kids that young but she was amazingly patient and stoic and with the aid of her parents might well learn a few things. When I came, still limping, to the bridge over The Kyd Brook below Tong's farm a lady was speaking on her mobile phone about Limpfield village - very appropriate. The walk today seemed to take ages. All you can do on days like this is plod along and not think too much about reaching the end of the walk. If you keep plodding on, the end comes soon enough. Thursday 31st March As you may have noticed, I have not been in the woods for about three weeks. I have had my annual dose of 'flu or bronchitis and today is the first day I have felt like getting out. It was good to feel the mud underfoot once more and to meet up with some friends who had wondered where I had been. I am grateful to Bryan who emailed me saying he had missed my "homilies and cracker barrel philosophy." He has a gift with words and could write a fascinating account of his jogging jaunts through these woods. It is staggering how quickly the year 2005 is passing. I am always reminded of Chaucer's words at this time of year: "Whan that Aprille with his shores swote, In fact, there have been a few showers in March and there doubtless will be more in April. Flowers have already appeared in March especially the outstanding daffodil. I don't know the names of the others! Monday 5th April 2005 Feeling almost normal again, I took the long route through the woods. Flushers pond is nice and clear of green algae. The spring lambs are born but seem less energetic than last year. I met a rider walking her horse Lenny along the path by Coopers School. We discussed the vagaries of horse racing and the obnoxious way that some tipsters ask their clients to put money on a horse for them that is sure to win. In fact the horse is not at all sure to win but the tipster is because he covers all the horses in the race by asking different clients to put money on different horses that are 'sure to win.' Being a trusting soul I put money on Coriolanus for him and for myself. The horse did not even come in the first three and only five horses were in the race! I said that they would lose their current customers by these methods. Lenny's rider very charitably said that others would come along. What she really meant was: "There's one sucker born every minute!" Later I met another friend and we had a long chat about the problems of old age. I passed on the advice given to Billy Connolly by a Californian aged 65. "Never miss an opportunity to have a pee!" At least in the woods, there is no problem. You only have to find a tree or a bush. However, long rides on trains without toilets can be painful and far too many toilets on train stations and elsewhere are closed because of vandalism. The young vandals have strong bladders and don't yet realise that toilets are an essential part of life for a large portion of the population. God bless their tiny, little souls! Thursday 7th April 2005 It was a rainy day today. I nearly gave the walk a miss although I quite like walking in the rain. It is amazing how easily little things like rain can sabotage one's plans. In the end, the sun came out as soon as I entered the woods and there was only a little rain on the way out. Most of my friends were nowhere to be seen. Maybe the rain had put them off. Sunday 10th April 2005 Today was a bright Spring day so I headed into the woods at 2 p.m. with a camera slung over my shoulder. I wanted photos of the spring lambs. I soon met up with Tony who was contemplating a notice that had been destroyed by vandals. I commented that some people's lives are so empty that
the only excitement they enjoy is Tony, knowing I was interested in unusual wood shapes, showed me a tree where a squirrel seemed to be poking its head out of a hole in the tree. I took a photo but was not standing at the best angle to draw out the likeness. Later, I took a photo of Flusher's Pond. One end is beginning to look messy again but the other end is totally free of gunge. I found my spring lambs a little further on and will post one of the best below.
The woods were full of people including two or three rambling clubs. There is usually someone in any group who knows more than the rest and can explain things to the others. They are not cleverer than every body else. They just believe in a little study after school. Monday 11th April 2005 Balance Is Crucial Today I found out the hard way that balance is very important for survival. I stupidly decided to stand on a branch that was lying on the floor. I put one foot on the branch and then put the other foot on as well so that all my weight was on the branch. I expected the branch to break. Instead it rolled over. I lost balance and hit the floor banging my forehead and chin on the grass, drawing blood. Fortunately none of the twigs or brambles hit me in the eye. I will try to avoid such incredibly stupid actions
in future. One young lad, I heard about recently had not been so
lucky. A twig entered his eye and blinded it. Monday April 25th 2005 I've missed a lot of walks this month with some type of 'flu bug and it's still not disappeared. I did the long walk today and was again fascinated by the little spring lambs. They seem quite passive compared with last year. But there was one little gogetter with black ears, eyes and shins. like the lamb in the photo above, who was more energetic than the others. He stood alone on a lump of concrete while his friend or relative scratched himself on the sides of the lump. He reminded me of Genghis Khan with his dream of world conquest; the one below reminded me of Jamuka, the blood brother of the khan was not quite up to his standard. He stared at me and I stared back. When I moved a few inches forward in his direction, he took fright and ran off. Genghis was known to run off too when there was no hope of victory. He believed it was foolish to lose your life when there was no chance of survival: "Only a fool fights a battle he knows he cannot win". Genghis never achieved his dream of total world conquest. He died too early at the age of 65. He did try to find out how to live longer but the Taoist monk he spoke told him to give up sex. This was probably too high a price for him to pay! It is said that one out of every 200 men in the world today is genetically connected to the great Khan. Thursday 28th April 2005 Homilies and Cracker Barrel Philosophy Today, I took the long route through the woods and was pleased to meet up with a friend, Bryan, soon after I entered the woods. He had described this diary as containing homilies and cracker barrel philosophy. I checked out the meaning of these words on the net. The prime meaning of 'homily' is that it is a sermon on practical matters rather than deep theology. This is a fair description of many of the sections in Life Lessons in the Woods. They don't try to give answers to the big questions about God and life after death but they do look at practical lessons which can help people in daily life. I make no claim to be an expert on these and write the lessons as much for myself as anyone else. However, a possible meaning for 'homily' is that it is an obvious and boring platitude. Hopefully, I haven't written too many of these but I am sure there will be some who think I have! The term 'cracker barrel philosophy' refers to the extended informal discussions about any topic held in the general stores of country communities. People would gather round the cracker barrels and discuss all kinds of ideas. Again this is a fair description. Cracker barrel philosophy could also refer to a group of ignorant rustics expressing their ignorance to any one bored enough to stop and listen. Again I hope there is not too much ignorance in these pages but there are bound to be some who find these daily accounts superficial and boring. Obviously if you are reading this you are not one of those so I thank you for reading! I headed off to Tong's farm to be amused by the little lambs. Two of them were racing each other across the field. They looked a little lost when they arrived at the great majority of the sheep and lambs who were doing nothing except sit or wander about and baa endlessly. To be fair, one lamb did jump up on a curved lump of concrete. He was immediately surrounded by other sheep and lambs. When he jumped off another lamb took his place and the same thing happened once again. Anyone who has the guts to get up on a soap box higher than everyone else is guaranted an audience of at least one person who is wondering what he is up to. Actually, that is not always true. I once got on a
soap box outside Charing Cross to preach the Christian Gospel. As
far as I remember, there was only one member of my audience - a pigeon!
However, I felt pleased that I had made the effort to reach the great
British public. Monday 9th May 2005 Spring is still with us although there were showers which included hail on my walk this afternoon. Apart from that nothing much of note happened. I did see one of the peacocks standing on a very high barn roof at Tong's Farm. It was making quite a racket. Again I wished I had the camera with me. I wrote an article this morning on the importance of spring cleaning not just in the spring but all through the year. If you haven't seen it before this is my acronym for performing a mini spring clean daily: PALACE PLACE - put at least one thing in its proper place every day ANSWER - answer at least one letter a day LABEL - label at least one thing a day ARCHIVE - archive at least one thing a day i.e. move a less important thing further away from your normal centre of activity CHUCK - chuck out at least one thing a day EMPTY - empty or clear away at least one piece of clutter off one surface a day You will probably find that you apply the above acronym (PALACE) to more than one thing as you start taking action. This daily habit could turn your home into a palace and you into a dynamic, effective person. Give it a try!
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