The Restory Retreat Centre

In Conversation With Physics/Astronomy God’s glory is on tour in the skies,  God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.  Madame Day holds classes every morning,  Professor Night lectures each evening.  Their words aren’t heard,  their voices aren’t recorded,  But their silence fills the earth:  unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-45‬ ‭(The Message)                     ‬ The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Stars that we see with the naked eye at night.   May you have fun. A Suspended Blue Ocean The sky is a suspended blue ocean. The stars are the fish that swim. The planets are the white whales I sometimes hitch a ride on, and the sun and all light have forever fused themselves into my heart and upon my skin. There is only one rule on this Wild Playground, For every sign Hafiz has ever seen reads the same. They all say, "Have fun, my dear; my dear, have fun, in the Belov...

Years ago, while still living in Gauteng, I told Matilda that my big wish is to live in a place where, when you switch off your bedroom light at night, it must be pitch dark. I do not want to see lights of any kind. Least of all security and flood lights. I am definitely not striving to be anachronistic, singing the praises of the Stone Age, but electric light in all its forms symbolizes for me a type of infiltration and colonization. In our human advances, we no longer plant flags when arriving on  terra nova , we switch on a light. On moving to Barrowfield my dream came true. The stars are bright and near, the Milky Way arching majestically overhead, everything wrapped in black velvet.  I felt spoilt, immensely privileged. The date my ideal world was shattered I cannot pinpoint exactly. But one night, on stepping out of the front door to check on the kiln in the pottery studio, a pinprick of light in the far-off distance, maybe 30 km away...

Going to the mountains is going home.                                                                        John Muir We live right on the edge of the escarpment in the Balele Mountains which is part of the larger Drakensberg mountain range. Just a few kilometres south of us you have a spectacular view over the plains of Kwazulu-Natal down below before you start your steep descent. Going to Newcastle is in many ways a mysterious mixture of geography and spirituality. Changing over from life on the farm to that in a big and vibrant town. And being able to see this whole transition process in both directions as you are busy doing it. We leave home and within a few minutes literally step over the edge to this town on the vast plain down below, visible from kilometres off. It is usually accom...

Photograph by George Angus You know you live in the country when: - You drive for kilometres on end on the wrong side of the dirt road because for some reason or the other that side has fewer ditches and muddy patches. And of course because there are no cars coming from the opposite direction; - “At least 3 km” is one way of pronouncing “Neighbour”. “Support” is another; - They tell you in town that you can bring the empty gas bottle next time you come in. And then let you pay for the refill as if you’ve already done that; - It is pitch dark when you switch off your lights at night. And dead silent. The call of the Spotted Eagle Owl does not count as noise; - You are constantly reminded that our solar system has a Milky Way; - People understand that you have a spanner in mind when you are looking for a “bobbejaan” (Afrikaans word for “Baboon”). And that you use that, a shifting and pliers often; - You cannot phone anybody wh...