Storytelling in the modern diaspora Many of my friends are grandparents with children living overseas. Once or twice a year they book a flight to visit a child in a foreign country. Grandparents laden with gifts are met with great excitement by young, excitable grandchildren, but as the years pass, grandparents are often left to […]

Not quite what I was going to write about I initially wanted to write a post on the psychological costs of precarious employment but became a little sidetracked while making supper. I often listen to podcasts when I am in the kitchen, especially discussions on history. I find it very relaxing. Somehow, a more distant […]

Summers in the Cape Winelands can be hot, really hot. It is hell if you are not on holiday. For some reason, the weather is always pleasant when you are covered in SP50 and wearing sandals and a sunhat. Sun-deprived tourists flock to Cape Town and the Winelands during summer. What is not to enjoy: […]

Early summer is a beautiful time in the Cape’s Winelands. Today is a day for intentional laziness and ‘admin lite’ on a wine estate about an hour’s drive from Cape Town. The setting could not be more beautiful. It is too early for visitors and the waiters are still putting out chairs and wiping off […]

It is really fascinating to watch people communicate. The ability to communicate is one of the first skills we attempt to acquire and spend a lifetime accumulating language skills. Yet we can be so very bad at getting it right. I always thought of myself as a good listener, with experience interviewing people for articles […]

Today, I am working in a converted Victorian school building. Pressed ceilings and skylights; tall bay windows with muslin curtains. Beyond the open windows, blue sky and the mountain’s domed granite outline; so close, it looks like wall art. I have taken the morning off to do some reading. Well, I don’t feel like working […]