Walking in Petts Wood and The Hawkswood Estate Page 24

Today, I met up with a distressed lady by the Willett Memorial whose dog, a King Charles spaniel, had disappeared whilst chasing a squirrel.

I told her I would yell out if I came across the spaniel. I didn't see it but I told everyone I met to look out for it. Most were very concerned and only too willing to look for it.

One man, however, appeared to think there was no problem.

"If you chase a squirrel, the only way is up!"

If that had been the case, the dog would have been close to the memorial. But it wasn't. Squirrels can sprint across the ground and once in the trees can move, like Tarzan, swiftly from one tree to another.

This optimistic man then started to call out 'Charlie, Charlie'. It took a while for me to realize that he was joking about the missing dog being a King Charles spaniel. Good luck to him;
most of us will make merry quips if we think the problem is a minor one. He had not seen how upset the dog's owner was.

Pet owners really love their animals. I had noticed in the vet's yesterday, that someone was offering a £10,000 reward for the recovery of their dog. Any pet can almost become the equivalent of a helpless child and member of the family.

Their innocent trust and vulnerability, not to mention their affection and enthusiasm, is very hard to resist.

Monday 9th January 2006 The Bully Dog

I met another joker in the woods today. He held his dog back as I approached. I asked him if it was a bull dog.

"No, it's a bully dog!"

He saw the surprised look on my face and quickly explained that it was a boxer. She was nine and a half years old and her face was already grey. He was holding her because she loved wrestling with other dogs and he thought I might have a dog with me.

As he walked off, the boxer disappeared running and barking into the distance. It was good to see an 'old lady' with so much fight still in her.

Wednesday 11th January 2006 Peacock or Chocolates?

The woods were full of people early this afternoon. I haven't seen so many people for years.

I went clockwise along the short route. As I neared Soldier's Field, I met up with a friendly border terrier called Spike. His owner had only to blow once on a one eleven whistle and the dog came running up.

A little further along on the path by Soldiers field I met up with Vic and his dog. As we talked the lady tenant farmer showed up with a dane. He was large but not a great dane. The farmer was on her way to feed some lambs.

She mentioned that two peahens had been taken probably by foxes last year. Their wings are not clipped but they are slow at jumping off their nests when they are sitting on eggs.

Someone had asked her about giving a peacock to a friend as a Christmas present. She suggested they give them a box of chocolates instead. A lot less hassle! You need commitment if you are going to look after animals or birds and you need to make the commitment yourself!

She moved off into the field with the lambs in it and closed the gate. The dane lept on top of the gate in one bound and then on to the field. The farmers had been considering getting a sheep dog but a good sheep dog can cost as much as £30,000.

Thursday 12th January 2006 Pets Are People

Last Thursday, I mentioned that some owners were willing to pay as much as £10,000 to recover a lost dog.

Kidnapping dogs is now big business in the UK. 40,000 dogs were stolen in 2005. A terrier's owner is willing to hand over a £20,000 reward and recruit a clairvoyant to help find him. There is even a program on BBC2 tonight called "Pets Are People"

As Tarzan of the Apes would say, animals are in many ways superior to people. They only kill to eat and not just for fun.

On the other hand, I did come across two very aggressive male lambs near Soldiers Field today. They headbuttted each other over twenty times at least. I watched, fascinated for about 10 minutes. One was slightly bigger than the other and was clearly enjoying the contest more than the smaller one. He was a true bully lamb.

Perhaps animals are more like people than we think.

The war of the protective fences which shield the heather patches is being won currently by the warden and the volunteers. The fences are still standing after a month or so. Perhaps the lover of wild nature has finally accepted the fact that he is not in charge of the woods and does not have the authority to break down the fences he disagrees with.

Sunday 15th January 2006 Per Ardua Ad Astra

Last Thursday night, I lost balance in my martial arts class and headbutted a pile of chairs.
Blood flowed.

It has taken two or three days to recover. I didn't feel any serious ill effects today as I took the short walk through the woods but did feel some back pain.

It was late afternoon when I returned home but it was still quite light. I didn't see many people around but a couple of light planes passed overhead parly obscured by the clouds.

Planes always remind me of the motto 'Per ardua ad astra" i.e. "through hard work to the stars. What a great motto."

Saturday Feb 11th 2006 Extend Your Stride Or Walk Faster

I haven't been for a walk for many days and even weeks as I had a bad dose of 'flu starting in the second half of January. I have still not recovered and have only been able to read about walking rather than actually walking.

I read an interesting article about walking faster by extending your stride or speeding up your pace. It is worth doing either or both of these things occasionally just to move out of your comfort zone. The actual quote referred to doing both:

“Lengthen your stride and quicken your pace.” Spencer W. Kimball

Tuesday Feb 28th 2006 Back In The Woods

I finally made it into the woods today after a long absence. I headed for the Oracle of Delphi and met up with my usual group of friends. They gave me a round of applause! They were all well and had managed to avoid the 'flu.

They mentioned the sad fact that about three weeks ago a man had hanged himself in the woods just past the Petts Wood tunnel close to the railway line which borders the woods.

He was only 37 and was described in the papers as a man of no fixed abode. If he had had to live outside in the recent cold weather, it is understandable that he would think life was not worth living. I don't know if this was the case but certainly far too many people conclude that life on this planet is not worth the pain they are suffering either mentally or physically.

Recently a mother jumped in front of a train at the same station that her daughter had killed herself a week before. The mental pain of losing her daughter through suicide was just too much for her.

Thursday March 23rd 2006 Attack On Summer Time

I entered the woods in the early afternoon today and met up with B and C who were sitting on the bench at the oracle of Delphi. They cannot walk too far because their dog is getting too old for a long walk.

They threw out some seed for a little sparrow which was hovering intelligently near to a known source of food.

B and C told me that the Willett memorial had been vandalised. I checked on it later and sure enough some thoughtless person or persons had defaced the clock part of the monument.

The metal protuberances had been ripped out and the shadows thrown by the sun could no longer fall on the hours marked out on the surface of the monument.

Ironically British Summer Time starts next Sunday when the clocks will go forward one hour
and everyone will lose one hour of sleep.

Perhaps the vandals were angry about summer time but I doubt it.

Tuesday 28th March 2006 Present Pain To Avoid Future Pain

I visited the hygienist at the dentist's in Chislehurst today. I asked her what motivated people to endure the pain of a visit. "Dentures", she replied. Many people are worried about ending up with dentures in their old age.

Visits to the hygienist mean less money spent on dentist bills and less need for fillings and treatment. Present pain is accepted to avoid future pain.

After the painful treatment, I walked around Chislehurst to make sure I got a walk in. It is several years since I walked that way and everything seemed harder and longer. Age can do this to you!

Thursday 30th March 2006 Look After Your Feet

I met up with two friends in the woods today. One was off to the Lake District tomorrow.

I mentioned that my mother's family came from that area and one relative was still living in Ambleside.

My grandad used to take my mother for walks over the beautiful but hilly countryside. He looked after his feet by putting them in a basin with potassium permanganate (I think) which turned them purple but made them less susceptible to blisters.

One of my karate instructors used formaldehyde!