We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather and it wasn’t long before we were heading out to sea. While we were cruising along, Hesse gave me a sandwich that he had prepared for breakfast along with some coffee, of course.
On the ride out, Jonas and I got to know each other a little bit. Jonas is a database administrator for a small technology company in Göteborg. Jonas and I speak the same language…technology!
It took about an hour to get to the place in the North Sea where the Herbertsson’s wanted to fish. Once the hooks were baited, we dropped the lines in the water. I let my hook down about 9 meters and it was only a few seconds before I had hooked my first mackerel. Not long after, Hesse caught a fish shortly after.
Somewhere in the middle of our fishing trip the lack of sleep from the past several days caught up with me. With the warm sun shining on me, I suddenly got very sleepy, sat down and took a very brief nap as we were going to the next fishing spot.
But, as the sea would have it, we labored most of the day and only caught 5 fish. I learned that the number 5 in Swedish is pronounced “fem” and the word fish is pronounced “fisk”. So, when we got back to shore, I went around telling everyone that we had caught “fem fisk”, much to everyone’s delight.
We returned the boat to a small dock in Åsa near Sten-Åke’s house. After unloading the boat, we spent a few minutes touring Sten-Åke’s house. He has solar water heating panels and his home’s heating unit is geo-thermal. The system sends fluid down a long pipe in the ground and uses the earth’s constant temperature to partially heat his house in the winter. It seems that the heating systems in Sweden are much more efficient than those we have in the United States.
We left Sten-Åke’s house and drove to Hesse’s house back in Hanhals where Hesse began smoking the fish we had caught. While we were waiting, we looked at two beat up cars that Hesse used to race in demolition derbys. I also met one of Jonas’ young daughters and we jumped on the trampoline together. Not long after, we were all enjoying a fantastic meal of freshly smoked mackerel, potatoes and salad.
After dinner, we shared stories over ice cream and coffee. One particular story about a tree and a stick of C4 has us laughing. Sten-Åke commented on how nice it was to have me visit.
Hesse drove me back to Hilmersgården.
Earlier in the week, Ann-Helen had asked me to stop by her place to see if her other daughter, Helena, had made it back from vacation. So, I got in my car and drove to Ann-Helen’s house. No one was home. So, I drove next door to Astrid’s house to see if she knew if they were coming back soon. I had forgotten that Astrid didn’t speak English, but she quickly went and got her daughter Mariann (Ann-Helen’s sister), to translate.
I learned from Mariann that Helena had returned and was having dinner over at Mariann’s daughter Anna’s house. I asked directions and Mariann decided to lead the way in her car because the directions were a little complicated. When we arrived, everyone had just finishing desert. Charlotta was there and I was able to meet two more cousins: Helena and her family, and Mariann’s daughter Anna and her family.
As the sun went down, it occurred to me that this was the last time I would see my relatives on this trip. The flight back to the U.S. was leaving early the next morning. I don’t know how my cousins felt at that moment, but saying goodbye was difficult for me. I didn’t want to leave. I had connected with my Swedish roots for the first time. My ancestors had farmed this very land for hundreds of years, and I had spent the last few days getting to know some beautiful people…family I never knew I had.
I can’t wait to go back!
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