3D REFLECTIONS OF LIFE

  Maynardville Open-air theatre If you want a different outdoor theatre experience for the family, book tickets for Othello, a Shakesperean play that is on at The Maynardville open-air theatre. Othello is one of Shakespeare's tragedies. Othello, a black "Moor" general in the Venetian army and Desdemona, a white, Upper class woman, fall in love and get married against her father and society's wishes.   The play is meaty. There is the tragic love story of Othello, who consumed by obsessive jealousy, falls prey to the scheming Iago and eventually murders innocent Desdemona. The play also deals with issues of racism, sexism and cultural discrimination, issues that we experience and understand only too well.   The production of Othello at Maynardville sticks to the traditional theatrical format and may appeal more to Grade 12 students who study Othello as a setwork rather than to the general public. The Daily Maverick article raises interesting insights into th...

If you see a well-dressed, cropped-haired woman walking from Retreat railway station, bending and pausing every few meters, don't despair. She is not doing a new form of exercise nor is she suffering from backache. This woman, Naomi, is busy collecting plastic bottles that people have discarded along the road. There is not a single plastic bottle that misses her eye. By the time Naomi arrives at her home, she usually has a bag load of plastic bottles that will be rinsed and flattened.   The Million Plastic Bottle Project   Naomi is raising funds for Operation Smile, the Not-for-Profit organisation. Operation Smile South Africa provides free surgery to children who suffer from facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate. One operation costs about R5,000, a hefty sum of money that many of the parents of such children cannot afford. Recycling One Million Plastic Bottles can pay for one surgical operation and that is where Naomi fits in.   Naomi's fundraising ...

  Whoa... What is this nonsense that you are in a mid-life crisis when you hit 50?   A crisis means there is a BIG PROBLEM. Like ESKOM's power cuts or the petrol price increases. Okay, there are 50-plus irritations like hot flushes, creaking bones and just enough energy to watch others do marathons and zip-gliding. But there is STILL no catastrophe, guys. How can there be a crisis when you reach the mid point in your life?   When we are born, we come kicking and screaming into this world, ready to give anybody a karate chop. As we age, we give constipated smiles and complain. Then we say we have 'arrived'.   I know where all this delusionary stuff comes from. Some lonely,Puritan sicko sat in his dark room, with his head bowed over a bowl of castor oil- infused steam and declared a mid-life crisis for his Ph.D.   Mid-life birth days means You are having a revival.   So don your 5cm hat, put on your dancing shoes and sing with James Brown:   'Wo! I fe...

My heart bleeds for those young people who are drowning in the Tik hole.   Our family has its fair share of Tik victims. One of the couples visited us two days ago. They had just walked from Victoria State Hospital to our place. The beautiful young woman - mother of two awesome children- was taken to the hospital because she was acting 'crazy'. Apparently the doctor just told her to get help and discharged her.   While we sat at the kitchen table, I felt powerless. I didn't want to preach. I shot off a silent prayer, asking for guidance to talk without sounding hollow. I asked the young woman whether she wanted to come off the drugs. She gave a suppressed laugh and her eyes darted around. I joined in, telling her to laugh if she wanted to. I know that uncontrolled giggling is a sign of Tik highs and lows.   "I dunno if I want to come off Tik. I feel my brain is going. Everybody hates me and think I am bad. I think too much when I am off it, "she said. She cannot ...

Sasha with her cousins who came along for the Matric Results announcement   Just the other day, almost nineteen years ago, I discovered we were going to have another baby. I don't want to bore you with all the details, but Sasha was a complete surprise to us. At the time, my dad who was still here with us, was more excited than I was. He reminded an emotional me of the blessings and privilege it was to be a parent. I swear that when I was in labour (forever again), he was sitting on the armchair, keeping watch over his second granddaughter.   Today I was all soppy again. Time flies too fast. Sasha has suddenly grown into this beautiful, young woman. While we were chatting one day, she said:   " I explained to my friends that I have to take small steps so that you can get used to the fact that I am no longer twelve years old. I will go out to clubs, then take a break to allow you guys to recover, then go out again. I want to help you deal with the shock of having an eigh...

I was a high schooler during the 70's, the era of freedom for the individual. It was "out with the plastic, in with the natural" . Freedom of expression was captured in our various hairstyles and dress, if nowhere else. The picture tells it all.   The hairstyles   Many of the guys in the front row looked like Motown musicians. The bigger the Afro, the higher the attraction factor. The Afro Afro comb or pick was often stuck in the hair like an accessory. Steenberg High, Standard 9 class, 1977.   There were guys who went for the long, sleek hair even though the gene pool delivered a thick, dry, frizz mop. That's when the swirlkous came in handy. The swirlkous was the recycled hair wrapper made from stocking legs that sprung a ladder. This Eco-friendly device tamed the frizz.   Hair styling products Then there was the Brylcreem, a hairstyle cream for smooth, sexy-smelling hair. I plonked my hair with dollops of Blue Seal Vaseline if the Brylcreem ran out. My reb...

My son, Christo, phoned this evening at 9:37 pm to tell me about the rainbow moon in our skies.   "It's insane, Mom," he said. I grabbed my camera and went outside. The moon was indeed spectacular. There was the moon halo with its moon pillars. The moon halo   The moon halo is formed when the ice crystals in the surrounding cirrus clouds bend the moonlight. You can't see the cirrus clouds because they are very high - on average at an altitude of 6,000 meters. These wispy clouds, often the forerunner of rainy weather, contain hexagonal ice crystals. The radius of a moon halo is about 22 degrees. The various colours are formed because of the angle at which the light is refracted.   The moon pillars     The moon had thin horizontal and vertical pillars extending from the centre. These pillars are formed because the light is reflected rather than being bent. What you see depends on the angle that the light reaches your eyes. Therefore, each one of us may have se...

Chatting to our German tourists who spent New Year's Eve and NewYear's Day with us at #Kleinmond Camping resort.   On New Year's Day, we met Monica and Wolgang, two German tourists, at Kleinmond Camping resort. The two were dog-sitting for friends. Wolgang and Monica flew from Germany to Durban where they met their younger friends who were touring Africa in their motor camper.   " Our friends travelled from Egypt down to Durban. When they arrived in South Africa, they wanted to spend time with family here, " said Monica. "They handed over their van and the dog to us and they will meet us in Cape Town. We will fly back to Germany while they travel inland via Zimbabwe and Botswana en route to Egypt again."   Wolgang and Monica would stop at any town or city and camp at available dog-friendly campsites. Monica shared interesting stories about towns they stopped at along the Garden route on their way to Cape Town. Ironically, many of the places Monica ment...

It is 20h21. There are only three hours and 39 minutes left before we welcome in the new year, 2015. I have been thinking hard about what to say to you and me about our vision for 2015. How do we prepare to make our lives matter? How can we live more authentically? How do we build on our successes? How do we make the changes that we have to make in our lives?   Making changes will never be easy. But we have to start somewhere. We have to learn to commit to our dreams by starting small. Every small act or action adds up and before we know it, we are moving ourselves to becoming happier people. We need goals to be our maps, but we forget that each of our goals is a composite of many tiny goals. Those small goals are really the small actions that move us closer to our main goal.   One of my overarching goals is to live a more purposeful life. One big stumbling block is that I am a self-confessed workaholic and I have begun to question its impact on my life.   My obsession ...

The Lifesavers' army tent. Our Kleinmond camping village is quiet this morning. The blue flag status beach has treacherous back currents and our volunteer lifesaver neighbours have already left to do their duty.   About 9:00 the two young campers, Erin and Seth, were playing cricket while granddad Linden was packing up. Now and then Linden would join them and celebrate when either boy hits a four or a six.   Both Erin and Seth have long, golden locks. Erin came over to chat with me.   "We are growing our hair for cancer. We need to grow it to 24cm before we cut it".   The homeschooled brothers had learned about cancer and how people help those with cancer. Erin was the one who decided he wanted to grow his hair and then donate his locks. Seth followed suit. Erin and Seth volunteered to grow their hair that they will donate to Cancer patients.     About 11:00 Christo and friends came to our site to collect the kettle, mugs, cutlery and milk. They did...

  Whether we are talking about the nuclear or the extended family, we can expect to find a delicate, explosive network that is second to none.   Families bitch and moan. They can suck up your bone marrow better than a giant octopus. Competition is their middle name. The house, children, jobs and pets are fair game during any family gathering. How many times don't we just want to throw in the towel and swear we don't need this madness in our lives?   Then there's the creme de la creme personality of families. The Pacific Ocean is too small to hold all the love and concern they have for us. When we succeed, they rally the shooting stars to broadcast our achievements to the world. Their drooling makes our spines curl and the water rise in our knees. Don't we just want to hug them eternally on these occasions?   Such is the life of families. Embrace this ambivalence that provides the fuel for REAL families. Families are alive, high energy organisms that need constant int...

  Cool trio of Lyndon and his two handsome grandsons.   Just opposite our Kleinmond campsite is a lovely, family: #Linden Bradfield and his two grandsons.   The three campers are organized. Their campsite is a reflection of their smooth camping style. The tent with its minimalist camping necessities cuts a clean picture. The boys are as chilled as their granddad and they use what nature can provide. Yesterday they came back armed with firewood that they picked up along the path.   We are not using our entire site so we have the occasional pedestrians passing through to get to the path that takes you to the lagoon and beach.   On their first walk this morning, I saw the trio looking for the designated path. This footpath that separates our camp from my sister's has been cut off by a parked car. Linden must have told the boys they would have to crisscross through our communal section.   "But didn't you tell us we mustn't disturb the other campers? We must no...

"My ring road is my own creation. It's where I am happiest."                                                                                            - Keith Niekerk   Part of the ring road in the West Coast National Park The principle of the demand and supply model is straightforward. When there is a need, you supply the resources. The tricky part is we confuse our needs with our wants. We convince ourselves that we need more of those things that give us instant satisfaction, regardless of the cost. We crave more material th...

Is it chocolate or candy?   The chocolate industry reads like a suspense novel filled with lies, greed and corruption. The bad guys are the ones who use a smattering of cocoa and tons of GM ingredients to concoct a chocolate. The good guys are the chocolatiers where chocolate making is a handcrafted art in a world where organic, sustainable farming and fair trade are non-negotiables.   Apparently, all chocolate is not equal. The dark chocolate with a minimum percentage of 70% cocoa is the quality, nutritious chocolate. It is this chocolate that is brimming with minerals and fibre. Eating it moderately, it can help regulate your blood sugar, lower your risks for strokes, pump you with antioxidants and lift your mood.   Then there is the other poser, say the purists.   This dark, milk chocolate has a low cocoa content. These generics drown in sugars, milk solids, artificial sweeteners and emulsifiers. The poor white chocolate is a freak of nature. Emotions run high in ...