DID you hear about the guy who stole a calendar? He got 12 months!

Dates fascinate me. If you believe the comic historians, Sellars and Yeatman, authors of 1066 and All That, the date of the Battle of Hastings is the only date that really sticks in the mind.

What dates are important to you? Your wedding anniversary? Your divorce settlement? The day you came up on the lottery? Perhaps it is your birthday? I celebrated my own just over a fortnight ago.

The dates that are the most important to us are usually the ones that affect us personally, aren’t they?

In Back to the Future, Marty McFly’s key dates in time are the ones that affect his own destiny. In just over a week’s time I will be selling some dates in public. A 2012 community calendar to be precise, depicting some local scenes and local retailers.

You can purchase one of these marvellous specimens of memorabilia at the Stanford Festival on Sunday, July 3, and thereafter from one of our local shops.

They are limited edition so place your orders quickly!

All the important dates we bring to mind are obviously in the past and part of history, but the really important dates are the ones yet to come.

The book of Psalms advises: teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Back to the Future’s Doc Brown says ‘your future hasn’t been written yet … so make it a good one’.

Good advice all round – cherish the dates, consider your future and make it a good one! – JOHN.