Last night I saw a star, two stars, for the first time since May. I got so used to the twilight nights here in Sweden, now the darkness is unfamiliar and almost shocking. It is a prelude to autumn. The holiday is nearly over and with it the lazy days. But it is not over yet.

It has been a perfect summer, and still is, months of warm dry weather and the first one I have spent at home for many years. For years there has been an endless round of festivals and for me that means a lot of sitting around in airports. Looking further back I remember whole summers locked away in windowless airless rehearsal rooms.

The temperature here most days is around 23c and so is the lake. The days have been filled with swimming, fixing the house, and, music. Swimming in the lakes here is a very special experience, almost religious. I can see why water plays such an important part in so many religious rituals, from washing in the Ganges to baptism. To dive into a lake, there is nothing like it, it changes you, and after that pools seem very artificial.

I tend to get into my little log cabin studio early in the morning and work on the various instruments and songs before a very late breakfast. I have been fixing up the place too, getting rid of a lot of the junk and clearing a new workspace. I remember my last album was preceded by a similar round of house cleaning, it is another ritual. I am still chasing the illusive last song to go on the album, and have yet to start recording, I have scheduled that for October. If I knew where my songs come from it might make looking for them a bit easier, but each one seems to come from a different place and repeating any formula just doesn’t seem to work. I have an idea of how to start the recording, but no idea of how it will end, that is OK, normal even.

Other than that I am nearly ready and my instruments are pimped up and in good shape. I feel like I am standing on the high diving board and everyone is watching, and waiting.
I have played the odd show here too, just recently on the Finnish island of Åland, another exotic experience, and a couple closer to home too. Next main tour starts in mid September and takes me to Belgium, Holland and the western part of Germany.