Field Notes
Firewood, sauna, silence.
Three days in Jämtland with no plan beyond keeping a stove lit and walking until the light went.
The house sits about forty minutes past the last village in Jämtland that has a shop, on a track that is ploughed if someone with a plough happens to be going that way.
Day one
We arrived at three, in the dark, and spent the first hour doing the only thing there was to do, which was getting the stove lit and working out where the light switches were. By six the main room was warm enough to take a jumper off. This felt like an achievement out of all proportion to the effort.
Day two
Walked until the light went, which took about four hours. Saw one other set of tracks, going the other way, already half-filled. Came back, ran the sauna, sat outside afterwards for the length of time it takes to get properly cold, then went back in.
Day three
Did the same again. This is not a failure of imagination. It is what the place is for. Somewhere around the second afternoon the absence of a plan stops feeling like something missing and starts feeling like the reason you came.
ABOUT THE HOST
Marta Lindqvist
Marta and Anders look after Skandic themselves — the house, the woodpile, and every message before you arrive.
