The Restory Retreat Centre

Vuzi, one of the cattle herders working for our landlord Johan, wants a TV cabinet. Actually, in his words, he needs it. “OK Vuzi, what must it look like?” “No, you are the carpenter, you must make me one.” “I cannot make you one if I don’t know what you have in mind.” “It must be a TV cabinet.” “Yes I know Vuzi, but do you only want your TV in that cabinet, or are you going to put other stuff in there as well? You must make me a drawing. It can be very basic, just so that I can see what you want.” A week later he returns with the drawing on a small piece of paper. There are no measurements or dimensions. The television obviously has centre stage, but there must also be room for his “cloth” speakers (apparently they are upholstered with material) on the sides, his dvd’s on a shelf at the top and the amplifier on a shelf at the bottom. “Thank you Vuzi. How big is your TV? And the size of your speakers and amplifier?” “It is a big TV. And the speakers are also big.” “OK,...

We’re having a bumper Summer season. Wonderful rains cause all the rivulets to gush and gurgle like they haven’t for three consecutive seasons. It is lush and green and simply gorgeous everywhere around us. Cattle shine like polished stones where they lie ruminating in the pastures amongst wildflowers and frolicking calves. It’s the way I’ve always imagined heaven would look like. And we have swallows. Hundreds of tiny fighter pilots that descend on us every morning, swooping and diving just above the lawn. We also have flies. Hordes of them, caused by a combination of factors: a cattle feeding lot that was recently started close by, very high temperatures and all this rain. We’re doing everything we can to handle the problem without resorting to chemical means: burners with peppermint and citronella oil work well to repel the pesky things inside our home. Outside we have bags of flybait that fill up alarmingly quickly. But still, it is not enough. Walking or sitting...

* Stefan is een van Johan se werkers wat soggens die beeste melk. Ons het die weelde om dan, sonder dat ons hoef te bekommer oor voer of beeste aanjaag, koei-warm melk uit die kan te gaan skep. Een oggend dra ek 'n paar ou tekkies van my saam met ons beker af melkery toe. "This is a size 8, Stefan. Do you think you can use them? What size are you?" Met groot belangstelling word die skoene by my gevat en van alle kante bekyk. "I wear a size 9," sê hy, "or 8..." Die waterskoene word uitgetrek en die tekkies aangepas. Vir 'n rukkie staan hy doodstil met sy oë stip teen die een muur asof hy sy brein kans gee om wat daar onder gebeur ordentlik te registreer. Dan skielik stamp hy elk van sy voete met die "nuwe" tekkies aan hard op die grond. "Yes, they fit," kondig hy met 'n breë glimlag aan. Met my vol beker melk loop ek terug huis toe en dink aan Dalene Matthee se Fiela se Kind . Wanneer Elias ...

The unfinished “The Adoration of the Magi” by Leonardo da Vinci (1480) I am slow.  I love to dawdle, look at this and that, get sidetracked, explore more and get lost in the detail.  This should not be confused with laziness. I’m really not lazy. I can work extremely hard, for long periods on end. I get a lot of things done; it just takes me longer than most. I am usually one step behind and not on schedule. I frustrate people who are efficient and fast. Of course it has its drawbacks and a negative side. It is not a very effective strategy if you want to pay the bills every month by producing a large number of things. My output, in terms of quantity, will never make me rich.  It often makes me feel guilty because judging by productivity, efficiency and time-is-money-standards I really do not make the grade. As I’ve said before, most of the time I feel out of step with culture and Western society, or to be more precise, that part of culture and s...

Photograph by Hanna Jacobs: 6 Dec 2014 No, my friends, I shall never be an ascetic, whatever you may say.  I shall never be and ascetic if she does not take the vow with me.  It is my firm resolve that if I cannot find a shady shelter and a companion for my penance, I shall never turn ascetic.  No, my friends, I shall never leave my hearth and home, and retire into the forest solitude, if rings no merry laughter in its echoing shade and if the end of no saffron mantle flutters in the wind; if its silence is not deepened by soft whispers.  I shall never be an ascetic.                                                 Rabindranath Tagore  

There is just something about the sky here.... I share Mark Woodward's awe, even though we're from different parts of the world. So Much Bigger Than You Somewhere in flatter-than-flat western Kansas, a patch of sky blue  next to the edge of a golden orange-to-red cloud  reflecting the setting sun is just so beautiful that you want to pause,  hold your breath,  soak it in all in, but it is so much bigger than you,  you can’t take it all in, so you finally let go,  and breathe. And be with it. Photograph by Frans Marais Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus Photograph by George Angus George

My suster stuur vir my ‘n e-pos met interessante woorde wat basies onvertaalbaar is en net so in die oorspronklike gebruik word. Eintlik is dit leefstyle wat in woorde saamgevat word. Onder andere Hygge. Die Deense woord vir ‘n leefstyl wat koesterend, sorgsaam en intiem is. Wat vra dat jy die oomblik waarin jy is, hoe eenvoudig ook al, sal geniet en die waarde van “dit stadiger vat” nie onderskat nie. Ek sit ‘n lang ruk daarna en kyk. Is dit net iets in die lug, deel van die groter “collective consciousness”, of bloot ‘n nuwe gier? Iets wat deur stylghoeroes herontdek en afgestof is? Sy weet nie dat ek nou al vir byna 2 weke materiaal versamel oor Hygge nie. Aanhalings, foto’s, artikels. Ek het effens teruggehou omdat ek gedink het dit mag half onvanpas wees om hier aan die begin van die lente daaroor te skryf; Hygge is baie tuis in die winter kom dan tot sy of haar reg. Waarskynlik is dit waarom dit my reg van ...