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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 3Friday September 26th 2003 Walking stick jog As I have got older and heavier I often take a walking stick into the woods with me to take the load off my ankles which can get swollen. I find the walking stick useful for several other reasons. I can practise sword play with it on the nettles and brambles that try to take over the paths in summer. I can play with it like Charlie Chaplin by spinning it around and throwing it from hand to hand. It is also a possible defence against some of the more aggressive dogs that one meets occasionally. There is, for example, a huge and aggressive great dane at Tong’s farm. A few weeks ago it bestraddled the path as I walked up towards the farm and then as I came closer moved in barking and snapping at me. Fortunately, the farmer appeared and called the dog off. The walking stick might have been handy if he had not. On this Friday, the weather was cold so I broke into my walking stick jog. If the stick is in your right hand, you put it down just before your left foot touches the ground and push hard before your left foot lands so that your first step (with your left leg ) is a long one. You then jog – right, left, right (i.e. 2,3.4) and put the stick down again before you return to step 1 (of 4) You can also count the steps and this can be motivating as you feel the need to increase the number of steps you jog. I reached 3000 this morning. I only count the first step of each 4 up to 10 (i.e. 40 paces) then
up to 5 (20 paces) and then up to 10 (40 paces) again. By now I have
completed 25 sets of 4 which makes 100 (or 40 plus 20 plus 40 makes
a 100) I am far more likely to keep jogging when I keep score than when I don’t and I think this is true of most things. If one keeps a record of the number of times one does things or the number of minutes it takes, one a) knows exactly how much effort has gone into the project whatever
it is and Saturday Sept 27th 2003 Shopping in Petts Wood town Today I walked in Petts Wood town and not the woods as I took one of my neighbours shopping in the local supermarket. I went for a brief walk round the town to make up for not walking in the woods and then spent half an hour or so in the supermarket. This involves more standing than walking but even standing can lose weight! I read the following list recently about the calories you lose when you do the following activities for an hour. Sitting and reading a book 100 calories Presumably walking fast loses more calories than walking slowly Sunday Sept 28th 2003 Walking is free One of the benefits of living near the woods is that one can walk at nearly any time of day. Usually I walk in the early morning or mid morning. Yesterday I walked in the afternoon. I felt the benefits of the exercise for the rest of the day. Truly some of the best things in life are freely available. It is amazing how few people take advantage of these benefits. Petts Wood was bought by public subscription in 1927 and yet the vast majority of the public hardly ever walk there. Jim Rohn, the great American philosopher, often complains about the fact that, thanks to Andrew Carnegie, libraries are available all over the USA but only about 1% use them. I seldom walk early in the morning as the owners of aggressive dogs tend to get out early so that they do not have to put their dogs on a lead. I was once surrounded by three snapping Alsatians until the owner somewhat belatedly called them off. Walking late at night is also inviting trouble from any potential mugger. Monday Sept 29th 2003 Cool is good This morning I joined the early shift of walkers. My rather boring comment for the day was that I was glad it was so cool. The couple I mentioned this to on entering the woods laughed. It is not usual to be grateful for cool weather in the UK. I expect such gratitude will become increasingly common if global warming takes over. If it weren’t for the midges I would be tempted to move north to Scotland, the land of my fathers, or at least as far north as the Lake District, the home of my mother’s family. Another walker agreed with me that he preferred cool weather to the humid summer we have just sweated through. A lady agreed that it was glove weather. The final walker I met just grunted one word ‘Yes’! I saw a couple of parakeets flying from branch to branch in the large oak tree that I call The Parakeet Tree. This tree is by Hawkwood lane on the Hawkwood Estate not far from the walled garden. Presumably they have been happy with the warm weather this summer. Tuesday Sept 30th 2003 Sweep that path now Instead of walking today I did a bit of work in the garden. This mainly involved sweeping little red berries with stones inside off the path. The sooner this is done the better as the berries tend to get squashed when the car runs over them and then become more difficult to remove off the path. Like most things in life, the sooner you do something the easier it is.
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