The Restory Retreat Centre

Photograph by Hanna Jacobs We’ve had a wonderful rainy season this year. One of the results is that the grass and everything else are growing at such a rate that Skhumbuzo cannot keep up. To help him get ahead a friend of his, Siyabonga (his name means “Thank you” in Zulu) comes in on Saturday mornings to cut the lawn. During the week he goes to school, grade 11. This morning, on arrival, he walks up to me and says earnestly: “Sir, I need to write a short interview with somebody on bees. I know nothing about bees, except that they are dangerous. Can you help me?” “Yes, I think I can help you. How long must the interview be?” “About a 100 words.” “Goodness gracious,” I think to myself, “the teacher doesn’t know much about bees either!” “Must you sit down and have the interview with me and Matilda, or do you write a piece on bees in the form of an interview?” “No, I only write it in interview form.” “You do know that bees are very important to us as h...

Photograph by David Liittschwager I often say to Matilda that I am convinced that were any person to draw a 1m x 1 m square on the ground, with him or her standing in the middle of it, on any spot in the garden – not to mention a forest floor, a pasture, or a river bank – there would be more than enough activity, life forms and drama in that small space to warrant a life time’s attention. For that reason this photo was such a find for me. It pictures the creatures to be found in 1 cubic foot of coral reef. Which makes me realise that my focus was primarily on the ground around my feet. I haven’t even brought the birds flying directly overhead, or the insects in the air of that small square into the equation! Somehow the phrases “Nothing is happening in this place!” or “This must be the most boring spot on the planet” have a shallow, ignorant ring to it. George