The Restory Retreat Centre

Photograph by George Angus For a while now I’ve been walking around with a printout of a poem by Wendell Berry in my journal. I had it in a file on my computer, totally forgot about it and while I was searching for something else I discovered it again. On face value it is a beautiful poem, but it was as if it somehow struck an even deeper chord in me. I found it difficult to describe why exactly that was the case. So I made the printout and read it every now and again, meditated on it and wrote in its margins. I wanted to get out of the way so that it could work its magic on me in every way it pleased. Words 1.    What is one to make of a life given    to putting things into words,    saying them, writing them down?    Is there a world beyond words?    There is. But don't start, don't    go on about the tree unqualified,    standing in light that shines    to time's end beyond its summon...

Photographs:  http://www.beachhouse.be Shrimp fishing using heavy draught horses was for centuries a common sight along the coast of Belgium, the Netherlands and parts of France and England. Now it is only practiced in Oostduinkerke in Belgium. Two hours before and an hour after low tide the paardenvissers or horse fishermen ride with their Belgium Draught horses or Brabants into the sea. A net is dragged between two horses wading breast deep through the water. The catch is then emptied into huge wicker baskets hanging from the side of the horses. Although the tradition goes back 500 years, today there are only 7 fishermen left who fish shrimp this way. In 2013 UNESCO recognized shrimp fishing on horseback as intangible cultural heritage  Everything about this speaks to me: the gentle giants, the rituals that are part of manual labour and tradition, the sea. A visit to Oostduinkerke – definitely ...

The above picture quote was the last straw. I came across it in the course of the week and the moment I saw it again after so many years, I knew it was time. A number of other quotes all of a sudden came to mind as well. To me, quotes are quite often gateways to meditation. It all forms part of a topic announcing itself again. Not in the sense that it has announced itself before and I’ve ignored it – although I’ve thought about it on previous occasions. More in the sense that I am again entering the time of a certain topic coming to the fore unexpectedly on different occasions. As if to say: “It is my time. Look at me.” As other topics have done in the past. With me and my dad living on the farm, I am constantly confronted with and I am witnessing a person’s struggle to accept old age. My father has been very active all his life. He is a fitter and turner by trade, spent years in engineering workshops, but also repaired cars, built houses and farmed among other things....