My experience here in Prince Albert has been nothing less than magical. Every where I have gone I have been touched and surprised.  People talk to one another in this town.  They greet each other and even wave to strangers in the street.

I have found that they also share real information, details about their lives in an open way.  A lady in one of the stores told me about her granddaughter who has survived breast cancer.  Her pride and pain was tangible and I felt honoured that she chose to tell me.

When Jan and I visited the Olive Farm I was delighted to recognize Wendy from our recon weekend when we camped there.   She very proudly told me about her son, Gareth Williams, exhibiting his photographs for the first time.  It was so great because when I heard him acknowledged and thanked for taking photos of the opening and of the festival it felt as if I knew him already. Wendy’s pride made me think of my own daughter’s partner, Stefan Krynauw, a most gifted young artist who sold all his paintings at his first exhibition last year.  It seems Prince Albert is already working it’s magic on me because I even told a complete stranger about our family joke : “Kry nou ‘n Krynauw” when I overheard him saying to his wife that they really should have bought that William Kentridge piece many years ago.

Where else?

Michelle at Karoo Kaleidoscope (a wonderful treasure trove of stationary, art supplies and books in the main street) shared with me about her love of travel and how she truly feels at home in Prince Albert.  Also that her parents will be visiting from Ireland soon and it will be the first time that they see her new shop which she and her partner have obviously lavished so much care on.

And then there are the beautiful synchronicities of meeting people whose paths have crossed mine or who know people that I know.  So that I am in awe of how small the world truly is.  I went to Judy Maguire’s talk on Friday night and just knew instinctively that she probably knows my father from her University days in Pietermaritzburg. Lo and behold when I ran into her at the Jans Rautenbach Schouwburg it turned out he was one of her favourite lecturers and that she often went on fossil collecting trips with him/us!)

Another amazing gift was meeting Gunda Hardegen-Brunner.. We met a couple of years ago very briefly when we attended a retreat together at Bodhi Khaya where I now live and work. Reading her article about her beloved Michael in the “Prince Albert Friend” I noticed her name, but didn’t make the connection until I saw her photograph on the cover of her book in the weavery.

Small world, small town with a big and open heart.  I feel blessed to be here.