Coffee and Books 2

The Countryside - Part 2

I turn off the main road and not long after that we find ourselves between the fields. On our right is a large field with the familiar black and white cows, on the other side a farmer is shaping the earth with his tractor, to plant potatoes in neat rows.

The road leads up a dike and we drive between the high trees that line up on each side of the road. All sorts of field flowers grow underneath the trees, the grass has not been mowed yet, so everything is still growing freely.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" I ask Loki.

He nods in response. "It is, my little wolf. It sure is. Are we nearly there yet?"

"Yep. It's at the end of this dike. There, with the red roof, that's the farm." A few hundred meters ahead the roof of a large barn is visible between the trees. There are apple and pear orchards around us now, most of the trees already carrying their lovely white blossom. Fruit is the main business of the farm, next to their campsite.

I park the car in the small parking lot to the side of the barn, next to a forklift they use to move the big apple crates. When we get out of the car, someone calls my name. Marie, the farmer's wife, jogs over to me and takes me in for a hug.

"Ylva! It's so good to see you again! Your grandmother told me you were coming. How are you, my dear? It's been too long!"

I giggle at the waterfall of words, Marie might very well hold the unofficial record for speed talking. "I'm good, Marie. Nice to see you again too, you look great!" I turn to Loki, who stands by the car. "This is my boyfriend, Loki."

Marie walks up to him and pumps his hand with all her usual enthusiasm, immediately talking his ears off in Dutch.

Loki stops her mid sentence. "I'm sorry, madam. I'm afraid I can't understand you. But it's nice to meet you."

The farmer's wife looks at him for a second and then slaps her forehead before she continues in English. "Excuse me! I totally forgot you are from the States! Welcome on our farm. I'd offer to give you a tour, but I have some other things to do right now. Ylva can do it, she knows her way around here. You know she's been coming here ever since she was a little girl with pigtails in her hair?"

I take Loki's hand to rescue him from Marie's unstoppable stream of words. "I'll be sure to show him around, Marie. But we'll go see my grandparents first."

Marie waves us off and I take Loki to the campsite behind the barn. There are two fields, surrounded by trees. Each field has space for about ten caravans or tents and has a sandpit and a swing or seesaw in the middle for the kids. My grandparents have a spot at the back of the first field and I can already see them sitting in their foldable chairs in front of their trailer.

When they see us coming they get up and welcome us with open arms. It's a bit awkward at first, mainly because I have to translate everything, but we soon find a rhythm. And Loki is content with listening to us talk in Dutch too. He has picked up a few words in the short time he has been here, so he understands some common phrases.

My grandmother is gushing about how Loki is such a handsome gentleman. She loves that he wears dress pants and a shirt, even when he is here on the campsite. I think Loki would rather kill himself than be found in cargo shorts, but that's not something to tell your grandmother. So instead, I just say he always dresses sharp.

"Kids nowadays don't do that anymore, you know," my nan says. "Last week I saw your cousin Vinny and he had holes in his jeans! He bought 'm like that in the store, can you believe that?"

After tea we grab our things from the trunk of the car to set up the tent.

"Watch, I can do magic!" I call out to Loki, the folded up tent in my hands.