Desert Daydreaming

My household is a cultural desert! A while back, I suggested at the family dinner table that we might like to go and see a musical. Well, my suggestion was met with deathly silence accompanied by a complete lack of eye contact from anyone, my husband included! You would think that I had suggested some sort of interactive, avant-guard fringe theatre rather than a harmless musical.

I have now learned to have less lofty cultural ambitions, but did recently suggest a family movie outing. This sounds a lot simpler than it is. With 4 teenage sons and a husband who all have slightly different movie tastes, it isn't easy to find anything with general appeal. But I pulled maternal rank and decided that we should go and see the movie Lion, partly because I'm just a little bit in love with Dev Patel and it seemed to be a good option for the whole family. The youngest relented only because we decided to go to the Labia Theatre and he never sees anyone he knows at the Labia!

What a beautiful movie. I cried bucket loads of tears. The rest of my family all said that they didn't cry, but when I declared them to be cold and heartless, my eldest confessed that he did shed a tear or two during the reunion scene. Even though he probably said it just to placate me, he is now officially my favourite!

So do yourself a favour and go and see Lion,. Nothing like a box of popcorn and a good cry.

Moving from cultural deserts to real ones.... I grew up in the Karoo which is a semi-desert area of South Africa and I still find those wide open spaces endlessly appealing.

While trawling the web looking for Karoo scenery, I came upon this place called Klipspringer near Calitzdorp in the Little Karoo. It is set high up in a mountainous area and has panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. The homestead is off the grid and is built with stone from the area. So all very green and eco-friendly.