博客存档 - FordeFables

October 31st, 2014.

31/10/2014

Thought for today:
"When you left me on my own that first time, I thought that you weren't coming back and I feared that you'd rejected me. I worried myself sick and in my concern I chewed up the carpet and messed up the settee.

Then when you came back in the door and I heard your cheerful voice and saw your smiling face again my heart lit up. Then your face changed for the worse as you noticed all the mess and I felt rejection for the second time in one day.

It took three months before I learned not to piss in your shoes or to stop trying to sleep in your bed on a night. I like your smell in bed and I only wish that you liked mine enough to let me in, even on top of the sheets.

When I was six months old I had never been so happy. You and I held eyes for no other and the loving presence of each other was all we seemed to desire. Then, when I was at my happiest, you saddened me more than I'd ever been saddened and made me feel rejected again when you brought that strange man into our lives; first into our house and then, into your bed.

He wasn't expected to sleep above the sheets uncovered! No, you let him kiss and cuddle you and play tents beneath the sheets. Then when he stayed and didn't look like ever moving back out, I thought that I'd better get to like him or else I'd soon lose your affection. After all, I loved you more than anyone else in the whole wide world and if you liked him, then he must surely be 'likeable.'

Now, I am pleased to report that I am happy and content once more. My days are filled with food, fun and a little bit of sadness when you both go out to work on a morning and leave me to tidy up in your absence. But, I don't feel rejected any more. Hurry home you two; I miss you both. I love you....and I'm getting hungry." William Forde: October 31st, 2014.

October 30th, 2014.

30/10/2014

Thought for today:
While there are many folk who still yearn for a return to the past, when I look out at times gone by, I am much happier to be alive today.

I often wonder about conventions and customs of the past and how so many of the old ways seem so alien in today's 'progressive' world.

That was a time when to have a child outside wedlock would cast a mark of shame upon a maiden's brow that could never be erased; when to steal a loaf of bread for want of starvation could see some poor soul transported across the world, when debtors who were unable to redeem their loan would find themselves in prison. These were the days when men never allowed women to forget that they were men while routinely forbidding them to do 'this' or 'that' as they were constantly reminded by court and custom that they were only women, the property of their husband who they'd been placed on earth to serve.

These were the days when women remained trapped in unhappy marriages and when to leave their marriage partner against his will meant penury, the loss of all contact with one's children and a life of destitution as a social outcast. This was a time when divorce was unheard of and male hypocrisy ruled supreme; a time when wives were there to breed child after child until either their body gave up the ghost or their husbands gave up the drink and his unreasonable demands on them.

Of all past customs though, one I sadly regret the passing of is the ability of all class of people of 'keeping one's word'. I grew up at a time when to break it meant instant loss of Office for any politician and the withdrawal of all community respect from the man or woman in the street. Not only was a person's word their bond, but to break it was nothing short of personal disgrace. I always remember my parents telling me, ' Billy, I would prefer you to break the law, break a leg or even break your neck before breaking your word. A poor person has nothing in this world that is worth keeping except their good name and they will forever hold on to that if they keep faith with their word.'

All in all, while my love of history will always enable me to place a favourable slant on times now long past, I prefer to read about the past these days than to have ever been obliged to live it." William Forde: October 30th, 2014.

October 29th, 2014.

29/10/2014

Thought for today:
"In 1879, the Zulus won the battle at Rork's Drift after greatly outnumbering the British soldiers. Today, Zulus are the largest ethnic group in South Africa and number between ten and eleven million. They live largely in the province of Kwazulu-Natal, and some also live in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. It is stated that the Zulus were considered to be third-class citizens under Apartheid rule and suffered state discrimination. Although the British avenged their loss at Rork's Drift over the years that followed, today the Zulu nation fight on with their vote instead of their spears. They have learned much from the late Nelson Mandela. The Zulus know, however many battles they lost in the past that the future of their country belongs to them. They take comfort in the knowledge that as the largest expanding ethnic group in South Africa, that it's only a matter of time before they win the political war by sheer numbers of their followers at the ballot box." William Forde: October 29th, 2014.

October 28th, 2014.

28/10/2014

Thought for today:
"There is a time to be happy and a time to be sad; a time to hold on to what is dear in your life and a time to 'let go'.

All of us who have a loving pet that has been a great part of our lives for so long will naturally resist making that final decision until our pet's pain becomes too much to bear a moment longer.

Those of us who have been privileged to know a creature who knows our very mood even before we openly express it and who is undoubtedly our main provider of unqualified love whatever the occasion or circumstances, will know how hard it is to 'let go' of such strength in our life.

And yet, to 'let go' is sometimes the kindest of all pain to feel. We will be left with fond recollection and eternal gratitude to have been lucky enough to have known such a noble creature who will forever remain a prime source of constant remembrance." William Forde: October 28th, 2014.

October 26th, 2014

26/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Since the moment of my birth and the very first cry I made, 'anger' has played a great influence in my life. One of my mother's often-told tales was how I disliked my cot so much that before my third birthday, I had shaken it to bits in order to escape its constraints.

I grew up the eldest of seven children within a materially poor household where this week's food was paid for by next week's wages that my father had yet to earn. When seven children converge on the breakfast table each morning to find food that will feed no more than three or four, survival instincts soon teaches one to push and raise one's voice above the others. To most outsiders, such loud voices often comes across as aggression, but we from large families know it as being no more than heathy argument and fierce discussion.

At the age of twelve after a traffic accident in which I incurred multiple injuries, I was unable to walk for three years, after having been informed that I would never walk again. This state of affairs left me angry with life, fearful for the future and devoid of all manner of loving expression towards myself or others. The amount of anger in my heart carried me through initially and it also helped to determine my unflinching and disciplined resolve over the next eight years as I re-entered a more normal pattern of life while improving my mobility.

At the age of eighteen years I was an angry young man and the youngest shop steward in Great Britain. I was angry by the low wages paid to poorer folk for their eleven-hour-days working in appalling conditions and became determined to fight the bosses any way I could. When I looked around me outside the factory gates, I saw an underclass of non-white people being racially discriminated against in work, accommodation and social circles and I even saw signs in boarding houses that blatantly read 'No blacks, no dogs, no Irish!' Spending two years in Canada and America during the early 60s revealed such colour prejudice to be even worse over there then it was here.

During the 1970s as a young Probation Officer in Huddersfield, I found that I was coming into contact with more and more aggressive offenders daily; offenders who had allowed their anger levels to break the law, break bones, break up families, wreck their lives and shatter all future prosperity. After many years of meticulously researching behaviour patterns, I was very fortunate to develop the process of 'Anger Management.' My research into the behaviour patterns of six hundred offenders revealed that at the heart of all inappropriate behaviour was a body imbalance of anger, fear and love. The 'Anger Management' process I founded, showed how persons who displayed anger levels which they had been previously unable to control under specific circumstances could now learn to manage and control their aggressive behaviour. Within two years, the benefits of this process had mushroomed across the English-speaking world.

During my 70th year of life I was informed that I had an terminal illness that was treatable, but not curable. While I didn't consider myself neither a brave person nor a man resigned to die, I expressed no anger upon being diagnosed as such. I was greatly annoyed and possibly p...... off for a brief period that my marriage to Sheila, a mere five months earlier, would not last as long as we both had initially hoped, but such anger was more a disapointment than feeling bad with the world and the cards that fate had dealt me. Over the past thirty-five years, my anger levels have been controlled and have always worked in my favour. While on the outside I have often been angry with this or that, my anger has been appropriately and healthily expressed and I have subsequently behaved non-aggressively within the situation I found myself.

What has happened over the years however, is that I have allowed my anger to work for me instead of against me. Sometimes it has been transformed into a steely determination to fight some cause, injustice or more recently, face and confront my terminal illness. This has only proved possible however, by finding more 'love' daily in my heart and in the heart of others than I found the day before.

You see, it is physiologically impossible to get anger out of your body until you learn to put love there in its place. Love and anger are mutually incompatible bedfellows and cannot co-exist within the same body; hence the presence of one will produce the absence of the other and vice versa. There is a 'Dragon of Anger' and a 'Dragon of Love' which fight for space within our hearts. Whichever one resides inside a person essentially governs the quailty and precise nature of the behaviour that the body displays in behaviour through its mind, mouth, hands, feets and other organs.

So the next time you hear someone's anger roar out, instead of roaring back at them, which will only worsen and aggravate the situation, offer some love and support instead; unless of course the roar springs forth from the mouth of an angry man-eating tiger looking for its lunch, in which case forget everything I've just written and run for your life!" William Forde: October 26th, 2014.

October 25th, 2014.

25/10/2014

Thought for today:
"While I have written many stories and have had numerous books published over the past twenty five years, occasionally I come across a few notes of a story I planned to write at a future date, but had somehow overlooked. Please allow me share a few snippets of a story that I once intended to write. but never got around to doing so. The story isn't about me and the love of my life, Sheila, but it could so easily have been.

I will never forget the day I fell asleep in the corn field alone after a traumatic break-up with my first love. I cried myself to sleep, not knowing that a few yards away to my left another person had done the same for similar reasons. We instantly laughed when we woke up and saw each other close by sharing similar circumstances.

We went for a coffee and shared our worries and woes with the new stranger in our lives. Ironically, we discovered that we'd always lived very close to each other and had no doubt passed each other on the street from time to time. Further conversation between us revealed how close we were in need, values, interests and characteristics; much more than any two strangers were ever meant to be and still remain strangers.

Two years down the line we married and our lives remained blissful and unmarred for the next twenty two years until one dark Tuesday in the month of January, when at the height of our happiness I learned that I'd contracted a terminal illness. To tell my sweetheart the bad news was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do in my life as over the years we'd come to depend upon each other as only true loves ought. Upon hearing it, she cried on my shoulder and although I comforted her, inwardly I felt angry to have been robbed of years of future happiness we'd planned to share.There were also all those precious plans that had been spoken of often about things remaining for us yet to do before we retired gracefully into old age and the comfort of our rocking chairs.

We managed with some difficulty to positively apply ourselves to the difficult months ahead prior to one of us sadly having to leave this life. The night before I died, we cuddled in front of the open fire in the sitting room with a blanket draped around my shoulders and we just talked and talked of happier days when we were much lighter of foot and heavier of earthly desires. Though we both knew that death was an imminent visitor to all in our lives, neither of us feared it any longer and only resented it because it would temporarily part us.

When the time came for me to depart this life on earth, my body was warmed by that last kiss that passed between us as loving man and wife. Then as my final breath softly left my body and touched her tearful cheeks, I sensed a sad stillness of loss reign in her heart and soul as her bright eyes watered up and sunk in pain.

Mere minutes after my passing, although all of her emotional strength had been drained from her body, she knew that she'd need to organize certain things during the immediate hours and days ahead. So she thoughtfully put all her remaining crying to one side until these things had been done. Funeral arrangements swiftly followed my earthly departure and on the day of my burial, the earth seemed to open up for both man and wife as one was laid to rest while the other remained above soil.

Although greatly loved and comforted by her enlarged family of brothers and sisters she had inherited upon her marriage, she nevertheless felt that she alone would be left to carry the crucifixion of heavy loss during many lonely days and nights ahead, especially in the coldness of her bed.

Paradoxically, it was with great relief some two months after her husband's funeral that the grief-struck widow learned that she too had contracted a serious illness that would prove terminal if left untreated. She was informed that certain treatment would in all likelihood delay the inevitable outcome, but she declined with a smile that the consultant found difficult to comprehend.

Five months after the death of her husband the widow also died and was placed alongside her husband in their joint grave plot. Earlier arrangements had been made for each coffin to be laid side-by-side and not one above the other as is usually customary. At the top of the grave site a joint headstone was constructed that simply read, 'I'm in the middle, lost in the spin of loving you.'

In the years that followed, the grave of man and wife was maintained by the kindness of nature plus an underground landslip which resulted in the two coffins colliding with force and bringing the contents of each closer together; offering the couple their eternal embrace of love. They had first met side-by-side in the corn field and had moved closer in their affections every day since.

Beneath the ground they embraced as they had always done at the start and end of every day until the time came when they were eventually re-united in spirit and soul, trapped within their heaven of contentment for the rest of eternity." William Forde: October 25th, 2014.

October 24th, 2014.

24/10/2014

"Thought for today:
"I often feel that women have a harder time in life living the roles that they adopt and those ascribed to them by their male counterparts.
As the bearer of children, they carry an enormous responsibility for both the advancement or decline of civilisation; the birth of future generations.
In an ideal world girls would be provided with every available opportunity to grow naturally from childhood into the responsibilities of adult, lover, wife and motherhood and yet, far too often before their minds and bodies are ready for it, they miss out large sections of their youth and have to abandon their dolls and childhood dreams to more adult chores of life. Even before they have barely reached the stage of pubity, they experience male pressures to be sexualised into 'baby dolls' and 'bunny girls' for no other reason than to gratify man's urges and sensual pleasures. To resist such pressure is often to stand out as being labled 'odd' to the other girls as opposed to the more accurate description as being 'different'.
Next comes boyfriends, babies and marriage; quite often in that order and rarely as the result of any planned execution. In times of economic depression there is too often no job to work at, no place to live that can be called home and very little nourishing food to eat. With a child/children sometimes younger than three or four to daily care for, the only jobs that are readily obtainable and will put bread on the table is the part-time occupation that the woman can obtain on minimum wages, working the most inconvenient of hours.
Not surprisingly, years of accumulated stress that accompanies such a life exacts the inevitable price of advanced aging, robbing her of her previous good looks and fetching mannerisms. Such change often prompts the husband to turn his eyes elsewhere. He tells himself that 'because she has let herself go' she cannot be bothered about their marriage and their relationship, so he too 'lets her go' and invariably runs off with the younger woman who amazingly still exhibits the capacity to dream of a happy life and future with her man.
In this grossly, unfair society of ours which is still predominantly male run, I see too many females who have never experienced the privilege to master one role in their life before they have had another thrust upon them. I know too many women who still have too much of the little girl inside them because they were rushed out of childhood before their time; I see too many mothers whose overbearing level of responsibility prevents them ever discovering the individual they were meant to be and know of too many wives who would have been happier to have mothered one or two children instead of the four or five they gave birth to and the immature husband they found themselves saddled with.
With such confusion of roles and the 'guilt' that women are encouraged to experience when they are physically unable to carry out all these responsibilities competently, is it hardly surprising that finding one's 'individuality' for a heavily pressurised, overworked and overmanaged woman in today's world is harder than grabbing a hole in the centre of a doughnut?" William Forde: October 24th, 2014

October 22nd, 2014

22/10/2014

Thought for today:
"It has often been said that those who live in this world offer much more to the rest of humanity than those who die in it and that the ink of a scholar and writer is far holier to the searching soul than the blood of a thousand martyrs who died in vain.

Today, I will spend another seven hours in hospital receiving my third blood transfusion in the past five weeks. It is hard to convey how much of a tonic it is these days to have my blood supplimented by the good blood of others. It is as though I am regularly receiving a new interpretation of that great Russian novel by Leo Tolstoy, 'War and Peace'. In my new interpretation, 'peace' becomes more holier than 'war' in any crusade and the giving and receiving of blood more valuable than the taking of it.

My terminal illness has obliged me to re-evaluate my place and position in the world today. No one's place in this world is guaranteed to either start or end without its own particular difficulties. Not everyone is going to get an easy start in life or a happy ending. But life isn't about how it starts or ends. It's about how it's lived and all those precious times between cradle and grave. It's about the small things, for its the least of moments that make the best of lasting memories. The way our loved ones laugh and the small things that endure the passage of time and endear us ever closer to the wonders of Nature. The sight of a butterfly in the sunlight or a ladybird and caterpillar striding a cabbage leaf in strange courtship.The love and support of an old friend, along with the growing interest of a friendship new. Recollections of dear family and friends who now rest their heads on the other side of the green sod; the times they made our life happier by their presence and enriched it with their laughter. They might not be with us in body any longer, but they are with us in spirit. The feeling of something we'd thought long lost to us forever returned in a single, life-changing moment.

We ought never to take life, family, friends and loved ones for granted, for they are all we have and all we'll ever need. Those people that make up our daily life sustain us like daily bread. Those incidents that we daily experience by being part of life are much more part of us than we ever appreciate and it is only when they no longer occur that they are greatly missed.

There is nothing strange about a person's life that is more mysterious than their birth. Every day on this planet, people are born, people die and stranger things happen inbetween. But I know my place now and my purpose past and present and I urge you most earnestly that no matter what trial you have to endure to find yours, as the journey and experience is well worth while and any wait you may have in its discovery." William Forde: October 22nd, 2014.

October 21st, 2014.

21/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Come on then! Give us a proper lick. Didn't your mum always tell you that it's nice to share?

Keeping things to oneself is very selfish, unless of course it is a secret that you promised your best friend not to tell.

I'm not letting you out of this elephant cuddle until you've come up with the goodies. Now, for the last time, give us a lick!" William Forde: October 2Ist, 2014.

October 20th, 2014.

20/10/2014

Thought for today:
"I don't know about you, but I find it extremely rude that when in the company of another they continue to play with their mobile phone which they have in hand 'at the ready.'

I strongly approve of the shops that refuse to serve customers at the till while they are using their phone. Can any of you possibly imagine (had the technology existed at the time) of soldiers in the trenches of two world wars posting on 'You Tube' instant images of death and carnage they were experiencing? No way! Many soldiers were unable to ever speak of the horrors of war that they'd witnessed, let alone consider posting images of depravity or disgusting pictures of ex-partners on Facebook.

This wasn't just the 'stiff upper lip' that prevailed at the time, but rather a display of respect for the time, the person and the occasion; sadly a type of respect for one's fellow citizen which seems to have vanished today. So stop monkeying around and get off that blasted phone and rejoin life in the making, not the recording." William Forde: October 20th, 2014.

October 19th, 2014.

19/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Thought for today:
"Are you old enough to remember the old wringers that were used to squeeze out all the water from mum's mid-week wash? Many's the time I have had my little fingers caught between the rollers?

While I recall that my mother's wringer had a metal base instead of the wooden one shown here, the wrung clothes were guided into an old tin tub by the child helper before being hung out to dry.

For the poorer folk, their washing lines were hung across the street if the back yard wasn't convenient. Whenever this drying method put the family clothe's line on public view, only the best of garments tended to be hung which might include men's undergarments, but never women's drawers and frillies which were dried in house whenever no concealed back garden was present.

So even back then folks, the poor male's underpants became the underdog of the public washing line.When I once asked my mother why this was so, she simply replied,'No decent woman shows her knickers off in public to every old Tom, Dick and Harry!' This is where the phrase, 'You shouldn't wash your dirty linen in public' originated." William Forde" October 31st, 2014.

October 18th, 2014

18/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Have you ever said something automatically and upon hearing the words escape from your mouth thought, 'If only I could have bitten my lip for ten seconds more no offence would have been caused!'

They say 'Act in haste and repent at leisure' and yet despite knowing this, all of us are prone to open our mouths and put our foot in it from time to time. The real harm comes I suppose in the knowledge that for right or wrong, good or bad, once spoken the words cannot be unsaid. Even if sincerely and apologetically retracted, the wound the arrow caused when it left the bow shall still remain in a hurtful place. It will remain in the mind and memory of both offender and offended for all time, to risk being partly regurgitated every time the original incident is referred to or brought back up in conversation.

Such unfortunate slips of the tongue apply within families as well as without and even parents and children and sibling and sibling fall foul of this practice from time to time.

There are so many people whom I love yet who I know that my unguarded words may have once offended. And while I love the English language, even straight talking emanating from a twisted mouth and mind can make the teeth bite hard into the lip. Perhaps it's better to draw blood from one's lip than to learn to shoot too fast from the hip?" William Forde: October 18th, 2014.

October 17th, 2014

17/10/2014

Thought for today:
"The train of life rarely remains on track forever without needing some sort of overhaul or repair. Like the human body, run it too long and too hard and it will show signs of wear until breakdown is in the offing.

Often I look at the crazy and frenetic lives that people lead without giving their mind time to think and take stock and their body pause for breath and the right to stop.

When stopping one's frenetic activity is viewed as a 'privilege' as opposed to that of a 'neccessity', it very much resembles the mind and body being on a collision course; a crash in the making, just waiting to happen.

Not sleeping properly, losing one's patience easily and forever feeling under pressure are sufficient body signs for you to put on the breaks, because if you don't exercise this control, the body will decide for you and force you to stop by allowing the impending collision to occur and thereby obliging you to change track!

I enclose my relaxation tape from my website that works on the principle of 'auto suggestion' and where my speech is paced to the natural heart rate of 'going off to sleep.' The tape should never be played while driving or performing any other precision task. It has never been sold and was produced as a gift to society by me during the 80s following a previous life- threatening period. Since it was first made, between 5,000 and 10,000 copies have been freely given to stressful people and persons with poor sleeping practices. Pregnant women, persons with any kind of brain abnormality or people with very low blood pressure levels Should Not Use This Tape. If you find it helpful, please pass on access details to others who might benefit. http://www.fordefables.co.uk/relax-with-bill.html " William Forde: October 17th, 2014.

October 16th, 2014

16/10/2014

"Thought for today:
"I love the seasons of spring and autumn. Both spring and autumn represent to me both start and slow down of the year and remind me very much of human life in progress; the growth spurt of a child born new into the world gradually being transformed to seasonal settledness in our twilight years.

Just as spring is a time to look forward to the year ahead, the autumn is a time to take stock of what has passed and to prepare for the season yet to come. It is a time to rejoice in the splendour of what the surrounding environment has yet to offer before all the trees shed their colourful leaves and many of the woodland animals prepare to hibernate.

Soon the days will grow shorter and colder and the nights will draw down sooner. Before we realise it, another Christmas and brand New Year will be upon us once more as visits by family members and seasonal get-togethers with friends who we only meet up with occasionally are pleasurably anticipated.

Then there will be the proverbial question that we ask ourselves each Christmast as we mentally prepare for the Christmast dinner; turkey or goose?, before deciding to stick with the safety of what we always have. Even in our behaviour as in our climate, all remains constantly seasonal." William Forde: October 16th, 2014.

October 15th, 2014

15/10/2014

Thought for today:
""There are many ways to persuade a good looking woman who has never held a hot rod in her life to go fishing on a sunny afternoon.

I remember from my days of youth a saying that my mother told all her boys without fail whenever we left the house.

'Never leave the house without wearing clean underpants. You never know what will happen and I don't intend being shown up if you have an accident and the ambulance man has to rip off your clothes in public!'

There again, I suppose there's something to say for 'Going Commando' for certain guys for whom the boot fits." William Forde:October 15th, 2014.

October 14th, 2014

14/10/2014

Thought for today:

'Pacifist of Perfect Peace' by William Forde
Copyright William Forde: October 14th, 2014.

'If visiting hours heaven had,
you'd see me everyday.
I'd hand out arms and legs to amputees
and hands and hearts to pray
for peace to spread across the world
and touch down in every land,
to see children laugh and play all day,
not have to understand
the senseless violence, the midnight screams
of hurt, shock, death and pain,
to look up at the night-time sky just to see it rain
down bombs and bullets as they lie frightened in their bed,
to blast and blow their home to bits with searching torch of infrared.

Please let my daddy home again, don't let me see him die
in circumstances cruelly tragic before my very eyes.
I love you daddy, you know I do,
there's almost nothing I wouldn't do for you,
except kill for flag and country
and rob another child of daddy too.'

William Forde: October 14th, 2014.

October 13th, 2014

13/10/2014

Thought for today:
"The Victorian age with its women's waif-like waist lines of 18 inches and its pear-shaped hips adorning all adorable and desirable beauties of the fairer sex has much more to answer for in the annals of British history than all the colonisation and exploitation of its Commonwealth and overseas territories.

Often, one of the gravest exploitations in society spring from mankind's desire to shape the pattern of 'ideal' womanhood and the image of 'female perfection'.

I recently had access to a few magazines that literally shocked my senses. I refer not to those 'top-shelf men-mags' to be often found within the reach of most testosterone-driven teenagers, but those magazines that seemingly cater for the tastes and interests of young girls and 'teeny weenies' who have hardly been long enough upon the voyage of pubity to recognise the many masculine snares along the way.

However much these magazines for young girls tend to dress it up, their underlying message of promotional female fashion is 'less means more' in the beauty stakes of male desirability. No wonder that the incidence of young girls dieting and being overconcerned by their weight and shape is daily increasing and that the young girl who carries those few extra pounds around her waistline is the butt of peer bullying and self deprecation, even in the playground.

For any family member who has ever experienced the physical and emotional trauma of having to cope with the self-starvation of any daughter, sister or niece displaying annorexia nervosa, they will know how hard the condition is to overcome and control. To have one's teenage child stood there as thin as an inmate from Auschwitz Concentration Camp while genuinely believing that they are too fat and ugly is not an experience that any parent should ever have to face. To have to bury one's child before they have reached the age of maturity is an experience beyond the realms of parental endurance.

Isn't it time that all page-three models were consigned to the bin of everyday trash, along with the banishing of those expensive silly girly magazines and all television and other advertising which inappropriately sexualises and debases the image of females? I cannot believe that a comparable 'sexualisation' of males in society would ever have been seriously considered, let alone tolerated and even promoted." William Forde: October 13th, 2014.

October 12th,2014.

12/10/2014

Thought for today:

'If Carrots Cuddled': Copyright William Forde

'If consumers cared and carrots cuddled, then balance and health would easily be restored in a non-green world of climate destruction.

If clowns both laughed and cried with make-up off and make-up on, then all might know their present mood and be able to both laugh and cry with them in support of their true nature.

If no kiss ever lingered 'til love did die, but instead fended off the blow of vengeful Brutus, then poisoned lips would never pass the chalice of contempt betwixt wife and mistress of heart's desire.

For it is well known fact that no woman ever knew a love profound; a love that moved the very ground that shook the earth below. No sweetheart ever smelled a lover as sweet as honey on a spoon or saw a star above so bright it lit the moon of earthly temptation and eternal bliss, redemption and salvation.'
William Forde: October 12th, 2014.

October 11th, 2014.

11/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Sixty two years ago I attended my friend Tony Walker's ninth birthday party at his house. The Walkers were one of four Catholic families that lived on the newly-built Windybank Estate in Hightown, Liversedge and being in a minority, naturally we all grew up and socialised together as one extended family.

Being the eldest of seven children we didn't have too much money and whenever birthdays came around, presents given would often be second-hand gifts and tokens of love made, manufactured or obtained from a household source. In contravention of strict council house rules, my father still kept chickens at the far end of the back garden and because fresh eggs were still being rationed after the end of the Second World War, my present to Tony were half a dozen eggs, which were greatly appreciated. In those times, outside the homes of the aristicracy, the body of the egg was eaten by the man of the house and if they were lucky and the mother didn't eat the remainder, the children would fight it out as to which one would eat the egg top.

Following a recent school reunion that my sister Mary attended, she met Tony Walker and after a long chat they exchanged addresses and she gave him my contact details. Almost sixty years have passed since I last saw Tony, until yesterday when he and his wife came to visit me and Sheila at our house in Haworth. After a few minutes and the exchange of some familiar school tales etc, it was as though the six decades had evaporated into the Haworth Moor mist and that we had lived as next door neighbours all our lives since childhood.

Tony brought two presents with him, a bunch of flowers for my wife Sheila and half a dozen fresh farm eggs for me from his own chickens that he keeps. We shall most certainly keep in touch now that we are reunited. Besides, he's the one with the fresh eggs now and there's nothing better that I love than a freshly-boiled egg. Fond memories are simply as priceless as fresh eggs were in 1951." William Forde: October 11th, 2014.

October 10th, 2014

10/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Isn't it strange how one twin, although identical in physical appearance to their twin sibling can have such a different personality to them in how they perceive and respond to similar experiences in life? Some are born to laugh out loud and some are destined to be cry babies. Do you know which child is the one that will grow up happiest between these twins? Is it the one laughing or crying at life's experience? Is it the one whose bare feet are being tickled with a feather or the one who is having them placed in a tray of freshly baked treacle just out of the oven?

They do say that a photo is worth a thousand words. Sometimes things in reality are how we see them. More often than not however, real life is rarely reflected in the superficial interpretation of the outward image.

It is not uncommon for a person to look a picture of health on the outside, yet be dying inwardly. Things are said to be invariably the opposite of what they appear to be, especially when an inward condition is being interpretated through an outward source. Sometimes people laugh and giggle when they are in fact very nervous about the outcome. A person may appear to be the life and soul of every party or gathering they attend and yet live such a lonely life for the vast majority of their time when they see nobody. Just because the clown laughs doesn't mean he is a happy person and just because something has been stolen and there are only two plausible suspects, doesn't make the one with the criminal record for theft the actual culprit!

I don't know, but I'm willing to bet that during the course of my lifetime that even though I have always tried to live compassionately and fairly among my fellow beings, I have unknowingly misjudged many more people of 'bad character' than I have those of considered 'good'. We tend to overlook the obvious in the pursuit of our prejudices; hence the advice 'not to judge' seems ever more sensible an axiom to follow than 'look and learn' whenever outward appearance is all there is to go on." William Forde: October 10th, 2014.

October 9th, 2014.

9/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Today we celebrate the birth of my 86-year-old mother-in-law Elizabeth Williams who was born on October 9th, 1928 along with the anniversary of the Australian sprinter, Peter Norman who was buried on the 9th October, 2006 aged 64. Although these two remarkable people were never destined to meet, both lived their lives campaigning for the civil rights of others; Elizabeth as a solicitor of the courts and Peter as an Olympic athlete and 200-metres Australian record holder.

In the Olympic games of 1968 in Mexico City, a political stand was symbolically made by the gold, silver and bronze 200-metre medalists who shared the winner's podium.The gold and bronze medalists were the black Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos respectively and the silver medalist was the white Australian sprinter, Peter Norman. The 1960s was a time of great civil unrest and political protest both in America and also in Australia. All of the athletes attending the Olympic games in Mexico were warned against making any political protests.

However Smith, Carlos and Norman ignored such treats and at an appropriate moment in the medal ceremony on the podium, Smith and Carlos silently waved a black-gloved fist of salute in the air while Peter Norman publicly displayed his solidarity with their cause by wearing an 'Olympic Project for Human Rights' badge.

Following their protest all three athletes were suspended from their National teams and were sent home to face the the scorn and vilification of their country. While in more enlightened times following the progress of the civil rights movement in America, both Smith and Carlos were recognised as true sporting heroes and had statues erected in their image, back in Australia Peter Norman was to remain vilified and shunned by his government, athletic bodies and populace alike for the remainder of his life.

It was to be during the the New Millennium in 2012 before Peter Norman received a Parliamentary apology. He had not been invited by his country to to be involved in any shape or form with the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney. He nevertheless became part of the event after being invited by the United States when they heard that his own country had failed to do so. On 17 October 2003 at San Joser State University, a statue was unveiled commemorating the 1968 Olympic protest; and while Peter Norman was not included as part of the statue itself (Revealing Smith and Carlos on their poidium only), Norman's empty podium spot was intended for others viewing the statue to "take a stand'. Thus America recognised his contribution to the cause of civil rights before his own country of Australia ever did.

In August 2012, the federal parliament debated a motion to provide an apology to Peter Norman.[14][15][16]. On 11 October 2012 the Australian Parliament passed the wording of an official apology that read:

“(15) PETER NORMAN: The order of the day having been read for the resumption of the debate on the motion of Dr Leigh— That this House:
(1) recognises the extraordinary athletic achievements of the late Peter Norman, who won the silver medal in the 200 metres sprint running event at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, in a time of 20.06seconds, which still stands as the Australian record;
(2) acknowledges the bravery of Peter Norman in donning an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on the podium, in solidarity with African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave the ‘black power’ salute;
(3) apologises to Peter Norman for the wrong done by Australia in failing to send him to the 1972 Munich Olympics, despite repeatedly qualifying; and
(4) belatedly recognises the powerful role that Peter Norman played in furthering racial equality.........."

When the stars were aligned for October 9th in the galaxy, little did Mum Williams know that the horiscope of the heavens would forever entwine her efforts today with the famous Peter Norman of the past in the 200-metre event.

Today, Mum Williams, who lives in an old folk's home nearby is visited daily by my wife (her daughter Sheila). Although now stricken with painful arthritis and only able to mobilise herself with the aid of a walking frame, she is neverless the only resident in the home to take a 200-metre daily walk. She may hold the world record for the slowest 200 metres ever walked, but she holds it alongside Peter Norman for the fastest Australian 200 metres ever run! Happy birthday Mum Williams. RIP Peter Norman." October 9th 2014.

October 8th,2014.

8/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Today is Wednesday and there is a full moon out tonight. It is the day I warned you about when you foolishly crossed me. Enjoy today as it may be your last. The last person to steal my boyfriend no longer breathes on this earth. They are now bed companions with all the creepy crawlies and maggots beneath the sod. Beware the wrath of Sarah De Ville; the wolf woman!" William Forde: October 8th, 2014.

October 7th, 2014.

7/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Of all the innocence that is to be found on this earth, none can surpass that of a growing child oblivious to most of the world's brutalities and a dumb creature who often displays an intelligence that is far more comprehensible than that of mankind.

If you want your child to truly grow up more sensitive, compassionate and loving; if you want them to have the strength to face life and death and to look for meaning where meaning is often hard to find, then forget the computors, lap tops, bedroom television sets and top-of-the-range mobile phones as presents when their birthday or Christmas next comes around. Instead get a family pet that will bond the humans within a family as a unit far more effectively than any inanimate object ever could. A loving pet brings so much more to a family than can ever be imagined. It brings more than life itself; it brings soul!

I had a lie in bed this morning as I was interested in listening to Nick Ross on Radio Five talk to people who had been diagnosed with different kinds of cancer. The remarkable thing to learn from the programme was that courage rests in the domain of the majority, not the few. While I felt for every person on the programme, I cried when it came to hearing about cancer developed by children; one who had not yet reached their teens.

As someone with cancer, I would willingly give some of my remaining time to any child with a terminal illness were that possible and if I was an influence in our Government, I would prioritise the cost of children's treatment in the NHS over and above that of adult treatment every day of the week. Children are our best future; always have been and always will be." William Forde: October 7th, 2014.

October 6th, 2014

6/10/2014

Thought for today:
"As any good stripper worth their salt will tell you, 'never reveal all' at the first show and always keep something back in reserve to knock them out with later. Allow the mind of the observer to work without verbal prompts or joining up all the dots. Let the observer guess whether it be a legless man or an athletic Adonis with the pride of an Angus Bull behind the screen.

But beware, the time to reveal all shall one day come and the moment will not be put off for ever. Though 'put off' may delay the finder of the immediate truth, the truth will one day out and no more concealment will be possible. How then shall you live up to expectations when you are called to account?" William Forde: October 6th, 2014.

October 5th, 2014

5/10/2014

Thought for today:
"Whoever you are, from wherever you came, never forget your family roots; for they are greater in the formation, shaping and development of your character than any lesson ever learnt outside the walls of your family home.

Those amongst us who had an unhappy upbringing and sadly go through their lives in denial of it will unfortunately never come to terms with their present circumstances until they can acknowledge (not like, but acknowledge) their former experience.

Those amongst us who had a happy upbringing (however difficult and materiallly deprived), are to be considered the 'blessed ones', for they possess a love of their lot in life with the effortless of a butterfly's wings and the gratitude of an angel accepted on high.

Strengthen your family roots at every available opportunity and nourish them at their base and source of growth. Be not stingy in the visiting of family members at regular periods in your life and try not to miss family functions or forget the sending of birthday cards to nephews and nieces. There will be fewer times than can be counted on the fingers on one hand when one of your family members will truly need your presence, support or help. When such times come, prioritise above all else in your life and take your rightful place at their side. You will do so knowing that your actions nourish family roots at their essential source at one of the most impressionable times in their life." William Forde: October 5th, 2014.