I’ve settled into Skagaströnd.
I shop at the grocery store every day. Mostly I eat yoghurt and cereal because HEY I didn’t come here to cook (don’t judge). I can now tell the difference between yoghurt and oat milk (yoghurt in coffee is not a chocolate/peanut butter discovery it’s just gross). I’ve also found the yummiest taco/pizza sandwich. I’ve joined the gym and go to the geothermal pool and been for Mojitos at the local cultural centre. I am still waiting to try the gas station hotdogs that everyone raves about but keep missing opening times. Rule of thumb is that things open at 4PM and close at 8PM.
My schedule is pretty simple. I wake up a little later than everyone else because I generally stay at the studio late. I get my breakfast (usually yoghurt) and coffee and sit in the little kitchen looking out the window at the weather. The weather changes so quickly. One minute it is clear skies and the next it’s a windy snowstorm. Not that it makes much of a difference how I dress (I always wear my big coat and mits) but if it’s super windy I mentally prepare to walk backwards to the studio so the wind doesn’t eat my face.
I then gather my things and head out the door to the short walk to the studio.
I love being in the studio. It’s a huge space where I have set up. I have the PUSH 2, a midi keyboard, my electric violin, my voice and Ableton. The other artists are working on their projects and people drift in and out all day. There are some artists who are here all day (Melinda and Lina the painters and Dylan the sculptor) and then others who drift in and out all day to work. There is a library in the town that the writers use (Naakai, Anne and AK). The windows look out onto the North Atlantic ocean and sometimes it is so clear that you can see for miles.
I put my headphones on during the day to write while everyone is there and at night I use the speakers to play. At night I am often in there alone and hear the whistle of the wind outside. I can see the soft glow of lights from the prawn factory when I look out the window and I play my music to the wind, to the mountains, to the rocks and to the birds.
I have used the words of a poem one of the poets here and set it to music. It’s not finished but the structure is there and I love it. I am also working on a few other songs.
Then I walk home usually around midnight. The big church is all lit up and it’s almost like a great big arrow pointing me back to the house so that I don’t get lost.
I am not lost here.