OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

I love it at sunrise and sunset, also at moonrise, day and night, in any weather, even in the heat; when it is dry, like last weekend, or when the flowers have just come out after the rains. Always. Apart from my own home, this is the place I always want to return to: Oudrif.

It was my love’s birthday weekend. And Oudrif was the treat, chocolate cake from The Hoghouse and all. On the way there, we found out that the loveliest of people were also coming, so our weekend could not have been more perfect than it was. Maybe a little bit cooler (but only for my love, who does not do as well as I do in the heat).

I stayed in or close to the river. The water was very muddy this time around, and a crab pinched me in the thigh (I am certain it wasn’t a fish nibbling, as I was sitting on the river’s floor, only my head sticking out at the time, and the pinch was a pinch, not a nibble), and the river lilies were in full bloom, their scent intoxicating.

Where the river bed was dry, I walked on the hot stones and my bare feet loved the heat sinking in through the soles.

And we walked in the veld, listening to Bill’s stories and ancient stones and their magnificent colours; and Felix, The Cat, walked with us this time (a first for me, and I loved it, too).

And I read at sunrise, and in a hammock near the river, and I watched the light yawn and stretch in between.

The food was delicious as always. Jeanine and Bill are the best cooks of veggies – of most things, really – I know.

The company was the best of all. Not only human …

And I saw my moon shadow and marvelled at the Earth, how it must also rise and set, all glowing and mesmerising, if one is watching from another planet.

I came home restored to myself. But now, one day into ordinary life, my cheeks are sore and my heart full of longing for the calm and wonder of Oudrif. Thank all goddesses that we will be returning next month already. With such a prospect ahead, I can face anything!

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD