ED’S LETTER

In my neck of the woods, you don’t complain about rain. I’m guessing it’s not that different for go! readers no matter where they live. One of the first questions our writers learn to ask when they call someone in the country is, “Has it rained there yet?”

Rain is what you pray for, not something to be wished away.

That being said, a good, cold, wet winter like the one the Boland is experiencing this year does complicate matters if the four walls start pressing in and you need to escape into nature. You know what a perfect sunny day is called in the middle of a Cape winter? Yes – Monday! Every now and then, when the stars align, a windless and sunny window of opportunity opens over a weekend, allowing for a breath of fresh air in between the cold fronts that come marching in over the South Atlantic Ocean. On one such champagne Saturday, I drove to Sea Point to visit my daughter. We bought an ice cream, walked through Green Point Park and ambled along the promenade. Parents were out pushing babies in strollers, couples were walking hand in hand, dogs were straining on the leash and others were just wandering on their own, lost in thought. They were not walking to get from point A to B, but just for the joy of it. There is an (unintentional) walking theme in many of our stories this issue, probably because it’s part of the DNA of this magazine. We love hiking and walking, whether it’s in the veld, along a beach, up a mountain or through a forest. The healing power of walking features strongly in Toast Coetzer’s story about the legendary writer, artist and conservationist Clive Walker (p 22). According to Clive, walking allows you to arrange your thoughts in the right order and shift your worries about work and responsibilities to one side. Walking, says Clive, is part of our salvation.

I couldn’t agree more.

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The October/November issue will be on sale at your local retailer from 1 October 2021.