Force of nature

I was writing about the FORCE centre somewhere else today and I thought I'd write about it a bit more here as there are so many reasons to be thankful for the work that it does. There are similar local cancer charities around and about, and hospices with the same kind of things going on in day centres and outreach services and I'm grateful that they exist of course but this is the one I give thanks to personally. I found it an invaluable haven in the hardest times, not having anywhere anywhere else to go for nurturing or support, and somewhere to share good news too as before I started my blog there was often nowhere to spread that about either! They provide a hundred and one different sorts of tea, with or without sympathy and biscuits as required. You can have counselling or relaxing therapies or join various groups and they have a great little garden too. Here I am there with Robert and a lovely lady volunteer whose name I've forgotten. Apologies lovely lady!

Mostly, as you know, I'm quite happy without humans around and I saw a programme about some great animals last night! There was a skateboarding bulldog. I don't mean his owner put him on a skateboard and pushed him down a hill. No, this dog had watched his owner and decided to have a go 'doggy style' running and jumping onto the board, speeding himself along with a spare foot (or feet - more options for a dog's body!), steering with his body weight etc. Brilliant! it reminded me of a dog I saw paddling a boat once...no not in my mind altered youth...it was a rowing boat and there was a man rowing it but a collie in the bows leaning over alternate sides and dipping a paw in and...well, doggy paddling!. I've seen footage of an orangutan doing the same thing in a boat without a person in it..

There was also an item on wartime pigeon messengers. I know about them as I used to work for the British Homing World and somewhere I've probably still got an army issue leg box. And I give thanks for dear Ernie Harbourne, who gave me my first full time job and didn't seem to mind at all that I was 'different'. Of course he might have minded but the fact that he didn't let it show was invaluable to a troubled teenager.

There some very clever parrots, whales and corvids. Of course all animals are clever in some way but often, it's only when we see them doing something we might do ourselves we remember. Perhaps my favourite were the trained dolphins who had learned to do tricks to signals...nothing new there but wait...they learnt a signal that meant to create a trick of their own, to improvise. That signal involves the trainer in a semi lotus position including the hand mudra. If two of them are shown it they come up with a synchronised routine. When you see stuff like that you remember that we humans are actually, mostly, not very clever at all!