The Restory Retreat Centre

  Tafelkop Spring “The woman said, “Sir, give me this water...” ‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭MSG‬‬                                        Somewhere in the distance is Wakkerstroom The Conversation Elements From The Conversation The path to the fountain changes with the seasons. Here in high summer it is overgrown and difficult to walk. You will not get lost, because the cliffs of Tafelkop lie just to your left on the way to the spring and serve as a beacon. But you often wander off course and with great difficulty get back on the faint footpath around massive rocks and over fallen tree trunks.     Lost   Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you  Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,  And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,  Must ask permission to know it and be known.  The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,  I have made this...

  Tafelkop Fontein “Die vrou sê vir Hom: “Meneer, gee vir my van daardie water........” ‭‭Johannes‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭AFR20‬‬                  Êrens daar in die verte lê Wakkerstroom Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek Die pad na die fontein verander met die seisoene. Hier in hoogsomer is dit toegegroei en loop jy moeilik. Jy sal nie verdwaal nie, want Tafelkop se kranse lê net hier links van jou op pad fontein toe en dien as baken. Maar jy dwaal gereeld van koers af en kom met groot moeite om massiewe rotse en oor omgevalle boomstamme weer terug op die dowwe voetpaadjie. Lost   Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you  Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,  And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,  Must ask permission to know it and be known.  The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,  I have made this place around you,  If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.  N...

  'n Wendell Berry Gedig Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek  "Hoop is nie 'n deug nie, maar 'n bewus-wees van God."                                                              George Angus          Met ons liefde. En hoop. George & Matilda

Photograph by George Angus With the water level so low after the drought we are now able to see landmarks usually submerged under the surface of Zaaihoekdam. One of that is the old road leading past our farm to Wakkerstroom. Before the dam was built years ago, it was a fairly straight and much shorter route leading into town. Now we have to drive much further all along the perimeter of the dam. The old inhabitants of the area tell us about homesteads, a bridge and obviously the old road that apparently disappeared for good under water once the dam started filling up. Now, with the drought some of it make an appearance once again, amazingly intact after all those years in its wet coffin. Every time I look at the old road, Rudyard Kipling’s poem comes to mind: The Way through the Woods They shut the road through the woods Seventy years ago. Weather and rain have undone it again, And now you would never know There was once a road through the woods Bef...

Photograph by Matilda Clifford And so, on this 3rd day of February in the year of our Lord 2014, our new tank here on Barrowfield overflowed. After all the disappointment and hard work it is truly a sight to behold.  I told Matilda that it would be such a joyous occasion that we'll celebrate with champagne. But it  came much quicker than anticipated with the result that there was none of the  intended beverage at hand. The much lesser substitute, vintage last Wednesday, was wonderful though. The label mentioned that it goes well with joy if I'm not mistaken. Comments like “Small things amuse small minds” won’t sound strange under the circumstance. It is only water out of a short pipe falling into the air after all. Percy Bysshe Shelley has a different angle: First our pleasures die—and then Our hopes, and then our fears—and when These are dead, the debt is due,  Dust claims dust—and we die too. For now, I'll settle on life. George

“Good morning,” said the little prince. “Good morning,” said the merchant. This was a merchant who sold pills  that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink. “Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince. “Because they save a tremendous amount of time,” said the merchant. “Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.” “And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?” “Anything you like. . . ” “As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to  spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry