Favoring the Farmer.

My favorite farmer and I finally talked for a long time today. He lives on the tip of the peninsula Beef and I live on. Naturally some of our hikes lead us his way. Sounds like that may happen even more often in the future.

I have had this fantasy about him being my Swedish teacher for a while. He seems like an ideal candidate: Older (hence full of stories), Swedish-only speaking, a bit lonely (and with that possibly interested in spending some time with a Swiss straggler?), and into nature (whether by choice or not may have to be determined at a later time). Today I made a major step in my mission of hiring him (I mean, befriending him).

While B and I's interactions with him prior were minimal (i.e. I asked if it was OK for us to trespass, said "hej" on another occasion, and waved on another), today's was quite informative. Naturally it was all in Swedish (which makes the author of this post very happy and a bit giddy).

This is what he wanted to know:

- Are you unemployed? (ahem... yup, obviously I added a bit of my story and asked if he had work for me - he said that he has lots of work but not much money to pay.. [I think..., my Swedish got a bit hazy right there])
- What was your previous job? (... that's were I explained to him wilderness therapy and talked about my crazy lifestyle)
- Did your dog run away? (no, he's right up there) What kind of dog is that? (Boarder Collie / Aussie mix) Is it a male? (yup)

Stuff that I learned about him included:

- He owns the land, the stables, and all the houses (there are some too-cute-to-be-true summer homes on his property that he rents out in the summer)
- He lives a bit lonely in one of the houses with two cats (one is 18 and one some other age I didn't understand)
- He works as a farmer and as a fisherman and as a vacation rental contact person
- He has traveled extensively when he was young (all continents minus Australia)
- He was about to go read his newspaper
- He wanted for me to come back and have coffee with him sometimes..... wait, did you hear this: HE WANTED FOR ME TO COME BACK AND HAVE COFFEE WITH HIM SOMETIMES!! does that mean I just hired my Swedish teacher?
- He also said that my Swedish wasn't so bad and that he liked B.

I think my imaginary friend just moved into the realm of reality.

I wonder what his name is....