Winter Introduction

My memories of European winters are filled with cold air and snowy Alps, of staying indoors and decorating the Christmas tree with my family. Winter in South Africa is very different, naturally, because it happens in June and July.

Because of the winter rains the Cape becomes dark green, with shades of grey where the bare vines stretch out and swathes of straw lie yellow in the cultivated fields. The colours are stark and magnificent in the crystal light of a clear winter’s day. The most perfect days are often those that bring in the stillness after a north-eastern storm has scattered dead branches over the roads and uprooted trees.