Walking in Petts Wood and The Hawkswood Estate Page 8

Wednesday 10th December One week at a time

I took the short walk today and jogged about 2,500 paces. I returned home and , as on Sunday, moved into a cycle of one minor achievement following another.

I started up the lawnmower (an achievement in itself in the current cold and damp weather) and then ran over the same lawns I had mowed last Sunday. This time I put on the grass container. The mowing picked up leaves as well as loose grass. My lawns now outshine some of the neighbours! Very satisfying!

Still inspired, I started removing weeds which had grown between the paving stones and even swept some of the pathways clear of leaves and twigs. I finished with some weight lifting.

Later, I watched some American football (a great game). The Cleveland Browns were playing the St Louis Rams. The St Louis Rams won a tough match 26 - 20. One of their key players was asked if his team would reach the Superbowl 2 years after their defeat at a previous Superbowl. He answered wisely that the team were just taking it one week at a time.

Friday 12th December 2003 A Hill of Beans

It was raining heavily today, so I sold some shares instead of going for my walk. I have overspent on internet marketing tools and inspirational ebooks. The sales pages are so good that I am won over every time or nearly every time! I had to pay off my credit card debts before they became out of hand.

Later I watched some TV. Clive Woodward, the coach of the victorious England rugby team, was interviewed today on BBC2

He said he was disappointed that England had not won by more points. He felt that sport was much more than just a game. It was like business and other non games. You had to prepare thoroughly and work very hard to win. Sport is, of course, a little less predictable. Australia might after all have won the world cup. Just one drop goal from them instead of England would have made them winners.

Earlier today I watched the great classic film 'Friendly Persuasion'. In the film Gary Cooper and his wife are Quakers who oppose war but their son feels he must fight against the rebels in the Civil War. . Gary's wife tells him to stop his son fighting. He is, after all, his father. Gary, unlike many fathers, feels that he has no right to override his son's conscience.

"A man's life ain't worth a hill of beans unless he lives up to his own conscience."

Sunday 14th December 2003 Mission Statement

Today Jonny Wilkinson was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the year. It is also the day the capture of Saddam Hussein was announced to the world.

A friend commented about Jonny. "He wants to be the best player in the world at his position and that's what drives him".

At the age of 12 he wrote a mission statement that he would become the best fly half in the world. Many would say he has already achieved that goal but he is still young and probably won't reach his best until he is 31. He wants to be the most important person in every team and wants to be captain if he can. He has already been vice captain to the England team. He leads from the front and sets himself high standards.

Jonny practises endlessly. Even at golf he won't be satisfied if he hits a bad ball. He will hit several more from the same place. His catch phrase is two more or one more. The one more may go on 30 times. It could also apply to ping pong with his brother.

He loves knowing that he has not given up. He cannot go into a game knowing that he is not prepared. If he is not kicking well he will stay practising until he is. If he has arranged to go to the cinema in the evening he will just not turn up.He will continue training until he gets it right. At the age of 12 he challenged his rugby teacher at kicking goals. Jonny won. He then asked his teacher if he would like to try kicking with his left foot.

The teacher realised that Jonny had already beaten him with his weakest foot. Jonny is naturally left footed but practises so hard that he kicks well with either foot. Incidentally Jonny is not just a great kicker. He is an elusive runner and he never shirks a tackle. He knocks hell out of people twice his size.

Johnny's training sessions give him self-belief. "If you are successful over and over again your confidence increases." He is obsessive but that is the price of success.

His brother bought him a guitar and comments that, if Jonny took up the guitar, he would not be happy until he became good at it. "I'll try and get damned good at it," says Jonny. "I'll probably wear the ends of my fingers away"

Jonny concludes 'I have to have ambition and goals for me and the teams I am with. When I hang my boots up I want to be able to say "I made the most of what I had"'

Monday 15th December 2003 Check the depth of the leaves

A couple of years ago I lost over £27,000 by investing money in an investment bank that turned out to be fraudulent. I had failed to check them out thoroughly. I trusted them without investigating them. Big mistake

I made a similar but much less devastating mistake in Petts Wood today. It was a beautiful but chilly day in the woods and I took the long route for the first time since I started the 'flu in mid October.

I came across a ditch which is normally full of water. Today there were only leaves in the ditch. I did not bother to check the depth of the leaves and stepped boldly in. My foot landed on some leaves which were about a foot or two deep. The unexpected absence of solid ground as my foot sank rapidly through the leaves made me lose balance. I started falling forward. A log stopped my left leg from going any further and I fell face forward on to the ground.

Fortunately, the only damage was a scraped shin, some grazes on one arm and a slightly twisted knee. Next time I will check the depth of the leaves before I step into a ditch.

Wednesday 17th December 2003 Dog defence

I came across Darren, one of the forester team, in the middle of the wood this morning. We had an interesting chat about dog attacks. He had some great ideas about avoiding injury.

Use verbal defence. He once saw an Alsatian charging at him agressively. He yelled NO! The alsatian stopped, whimpered and then ran off. I had a similar experience with a doberman.

I was walking near King John's walk in Eltham. A snarling doberman suddenly barred my path. I tried calming it down by speaking softly. It grew more confident and then grabbed my leg. It didn't bite deeply but its slaver covered my trousers. Eventually I got past it. The owner was no help whatever.

The second time the same dog came at me I yelled "GET AWAY!". It backed off about 15 feet and kept up its growling and snarling. The owner stood a couple of hundred yards away and made no attempt to call the dog off. Anyway, the yelling worked and I could walk on past.

Another guiding rule is obvious from the above. Don't rely on the owner to have control over their dog. Some do and some clearly don't. And some don't even try to call the dog off. A few years ago I was walking in the wood when a large dog with a long, narrow head charged straight at me. I thought it would veer off. Instead it took a bite at my leg as it came past. It was painful but not serious.

The owner laughed it off saying "It only attacks people who don't have dogs with them!" This was adding insult to injury. I was speechless. She not only failed to tell the dog off. She blamed me for the attack. I deserved to be bitten because I didn't own a dog!

Another piece of advice from Darren was to offer the dog a part of your body that you would prefer to be bitten if biting was unavoidable. He suggested wrapping your arm in your coat and then offering it to the dog. When the dog took the bait you could fall on it and subdue it with your weight. Dogs are not good at wrestling!

P, a blackbelt with a very powerful kick, told me how an alsatian came charging at him. He turned his back on the alsatian and was bitten in the buttock rather than another more painful and important area. When the alsatian let go, P gave it a swift kick and it ran off.

T was bitten in the hand by his security dog, an Alsatian. The dog was chewing his hand; it had lost its mind. T punched it hard between the eyes and it let go. T was later advised by an expert that a punch to the dog's head, cheek, throat or eyes was usually effective.

Saturday 20th Dec 2003 Believe despite the experts.

It was raining heavily this morning so I took the lazy way and stayed in. The day was notable for two reasons.

England played the New Zealand Barbarians in their first match since winning the world cup. Fortunately England won quite easily in the end but the Barbarians gave the Twickenham crowd some anxious moments in the first half of the match. Clive Woodward, the England coach, told his players that there would be no more mention of the World Cup victory after Jan 1st 2004. The team must look to the future and not rest on past glories.

The second important event of the day was the victory of Michelle McManus in the Pop Idol competition. For weeks she had been told by the experts and the press that she had a good voice but did not have the right image to be a pop star.

She was criticised for being overweight and for her choice of clothes. However, she refused to believe the critics. Instead, with the help of her many fans, she believed in her own vision of the future which came true today.

Sunday 21st Dec 2003

Today was a cold winter's day - great! I took the long walk through the woods. There were quite a few people about. Nothing of note happened and I didn't have any thoughts worth writing about!

However, later in the day, I saw a TV play about an alcoholic who became a Salvation Army soldier for the love of an army officer. There was one great line in the play about birth and death. This line is worth remembering in my opinion:

“We come in alone and we leave alone”.

Monday Dec 22nd The Shortest Day of the Year

Did you know that today is the shortest day of the year? December 22nd is also the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Isn't it a cheerful thought that from now on the days will get longer... and spring is getting closer by the minute?

I just read the above in Audri and Jim Lanford's ezine. I like winter so I am quite cheerful already without waiting for spring. However, it is great to know that something you want is coming closer by the minute.

Every time one takes action towards a goal, it is great to know that each action is bringing the completion of that goal closer. Each step creates greater momentum and confidence.

When I start the long walk through Petts Wood, the end of the walk seems a long way a way. However, before you know it you are half way round and the end is in sight.

 

Wednesday 24th December 2003 Have you still got your bounce

I didn't walk on Tuesday because of heavy rain but I did the long walk again today. There were more than the normal amount of the people in the woods. As Christmas approaches families get together and a walk is a pleasant outing for the family or a means of escape from a crowded house!

A powerful looking pitbull type terrier came running at me as I neared the end of the walk. You could tell from his face that he was just enjoying being out and about. As he passed me, he leaped in the air and bounced off my left leg. He was coming back for a second bounce when his owner arrived and called him off! I commented that I wished I had his energy.

As one gets older, energy often gets less. I read a few telling quotes about middle age and old age today. Here they are:

Middle age occurs when you are too young to take up golf and too old to rush up to the net Franklin Adams

Old Age

I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am.

Bernard Baruch

Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven't committed.

Anthony Powell

Saturday 27th December 2003 Surviving in the rivers and in the snow

Christmas is now over. I cannot believe that I had another dose of 'flu over Christmas but I did. Fortunately it was mild compared with the last lot in October.

I just walked as far as the pillar box this morning to post the odd belated Christmas card. I then watched a great Ray Mears survival documentary. He was in New Zealand, the land of Lord of the RIngs films.

Many early settlers in New Zealand drowned crossing rivers because the climate caused the sudden flooding of the rivers. This knocked people off their feet. The cold water made them gasp and panic and take great gulps of water instead of air. Ray Mears offers the following tips for surving flooded rivers.

Keep your pack loose so if you lose your footing on the river bed you can get it off your back quickly and then hold on to it. The pack should have a waterproof sack in it holding your clothes. You will need these to be dry to warm you after you have been dunked in the water.

You will be able to use the pack to help hold your body up out of the water as far as possible . Keep your legs high so they don't get jammed in the rocks under the water. It is important to keep your head above water to avoid panicking.The cold water makes you gasp and panic and then you swallow water and drown.

Keep your matches etc waterproofed on your person. Fire is crucial for survival.

The South Island of New Zealand presents the challenge of Mt Cook the tallest mountain in Australasia.

When climbing Mt Cook you need to choose whether you will climb light and fast and get back before nightfall or climb heavy and take your shelter with you.

However, New Zealand's unpredictable weather can catch the light climbers by surprise and if necessary they may have hole up out of the wind in a crevice.

If you then jump about to keep warm you lose energy and get hypothermia and die. If you don't jump about you get frostbite and lose the odd limb but survive. You lie there desperately wanting it to be over but you must lie still.

Two New Zealanders were caught out by the weather for a fortnight in sub-zero temperatures. They had to lie still to avoid hypothermia but ending up losing their legs from the knees downward. In spite of this, one of them climbed Mt. Cook on his artificial legs not long after his first disastrous trip.

Sunday 29th December 2003 Paul McCartney in Red Square (May 2003)

This morning, I watched a video recording of Paul McCartney playing with his band in Red Square (in May 2003). At the end of the concert he sang 'Yesterday' and 'Let it be'. For some reason (possibly the 'flu) I found a tear rolling down my face and then noticed the same thing happening to a man in the square who was in close up. Probably many others were in tears too.

A commentator remarked appropriately: "The Beatles gave us the opportunity to look each other in the eye and say 'We are the same'. All the terms like Capitalism, Socialism and Communism mean nothing. I can prove it. Turn on the Beatles. You love it; I love it." Even the Russian defence minister could remember the exact year (when he was 10) that he first heard the Beatle's song 'Love me do'. Both Putin and Gorbachev were at the concert.

Wolves soccer team beat Leeds in the English Premier League. The manager of Wolves (David Jones) commented that his team had not had much luck but he admitted that "You have to earn your luck" He felt that the Wolves team had "worked their socks off."

Monday 29th December 2003 Desert Survival

Today I'm still recovering from the flu and watching television rather than walking. I always pick up some useful tips from Ray Mears' survival documentaries. Desert survival was the topic of this program

Caroline Grossmuller died in the Western Australian outback because she and her boyfriend made several key mistakes

• They did not tell a friend or relative where they were going (to a lake in the outback. They relied on their landlord's son to record their destination etc. He didn't do this properly.
• When their campervan got stuck in the sand they could have let air out of the tyres to get it going again. They let out some air but not enough.
A little training would have saved their lives.
• They didn't stay where they were. Caroline died walking to get help. She did not take enough water with her to stay alive.
• You have to take responsibility for your own safety.

In the Arizona desert there are lots of dangerous scorpions and snakes and black widow spiders. If bitten don't panic. Stay calm and walk slowly for help.
Be aware that rattle snakes don't always rattle before striking. They may not always inject their venom but can bite through quite heavy footwear.

Don't play with snakes. If you're climbing be careful there isn't a snake on the rock above you. Don't sit down carelessly on a tree stump etc. There could be scorpions and black widow spiders in the stump.

The Apache would travel at night when it was cooler. You need to keep an eye out for snakes and use a torch if in doubt. A stick also helps if you need to clear your path.

New Year's Eve Wednesday Dec 31st 2003 More survival tips

I'm still groggy from the ongoing 'flu and spending far too much time watching TV. Fortunately there are some good programs being shown at this time of year such as Ray Mears Survival programs. Today he has been in the Canadian Rockies explaining that hypothermia is more dangerous than the grizzly and black bears.

You soon lose control and energy once hypothermia kicks in. It is important to recognise the signs and act before it is too late to act. Getting wet and staying wet is a big no no since water conducts heat or the lack of it fast. Staying out of the wind also helps .

The weather in the Rockies is unpredictable. Snow can fall on a sunny day. It is essential to be able to light a fire. It is worth learning how to strike a match without breaking the stick. Support the match head with your index finger and then cradle the flame in your hands until it takes firm hold. If possible make your fire a long one so that you can lie near it and feel heat all down the length of your body.

99% of bears want nothing to do with humans but some bears are a danger. It is worth understanding what to do when in bear country. In the Canadian Rockies there are both black bears and grizzlies. The grizzlies are huge and powerful.

One grizzly decapitated a rangers friend (a grizzly expert) who was too close to it when it was emerging from being tranquilized. tI took just one swipe of the grizzly's paw to take the expert's head off. Here are some bear tips. I do not agree with all of them especially the first one!

Bear tips

As a boy of about 8, I was once chased near Tehran by an Iranian mountain bear. It was only a bear cub but it was about the same height as me. I did run and had a head start on it so I managed to get into a house before it caught up with me.

When I came out the bear was up a nearby tree so I agree with the tip about bears climbing trees if not with the one about not running! Playing dead has failed to work for some people.

Ray Mears ended up with some general advice which I do agree with.

Learn not to give in when in a survival situation.

Knowledge is the key to survival and the real beauty of that is that it doesn't weigh anything.

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