Sounds of Silence

It was a very strange feeling. As soon as I got on the bus last Friday to come on my 2 week artist retreat, the world instantly fell silent. I waved goodbye to Meredith through the window and my inner voice took over telling me that for 2 weeks there would be no distraction, no talking, no input but the tempo of my thoughts and feelings. It was incredibly calming.

Not that I don't talk with people and Skype my wife. It's just that the whole world I inhabit for 2 weeks has no outside influence. I'm in a bubble where I know no one, have no responsibilities or chores save looking aftr my creature comforts and expressing my thoughts through my writing.

While getting the tour of Queset House, where I occupy the 3rd floor of an empty mansion, I couldn't help feeling a bit like Jack Torrance in The Shining when he toured the Overlook Hotel. Right now there isn't anyone else in the place and the chandeliers are burning brightly on the first floor. I was told there are ghosts here but I think I'm the ghost in this machine. I trip down the servant's stairs onto the street for a morning walk before settling down to writing and pacing and thinking and molding my ideas into a cohesive story.

The quiet solitude is the gift that the Ames Free Library has given me to make this happen.