"I live in the middle of Amsterdam, which can be overwhelming sometimes. Especially the noise. There is always a car honking, a person yelling, a dog barking, a radio blaring.

First thing I noticed about Joya was the silence. I asked Donna if the vague sound in the distance were cars, but she said it was the wind in the pine trees. And then there was the wind turbine that sometimes would switch on for a couple of hours. Or an occasional bird.

I started taking long walks through the countryscape. Sometimes I wouldn’t even hear the wind. I would hold my breath to enjoy the nothingness.

On one of my first walks I was startled by a sound, it was like something was rushing towards me at a very high speed. I stopped dead in my tracks, unsure of what it was. Then I noticed it was the sound of wind blowing through a tree with yellow leaves. It almost sounded as if it were a percussion instrument. I’ve really started to like that sound. Every day I would look forward to hearing it, like a favourite song.

Today I walked past the tree for the very last time. I noticed the sound was gone. Too many of the yellow leaves had fallen now, as winter approaches. It made me a little sad, like I am feeling sad about leaving Joya:Air. But in the same time, I knew the leaves would return as I might some day".

Marion Pauw / writer in residence / November 2016