Wonderful Experiences with Hamn
It was no problem for me to walk a few kilometers when I was at the summer cottage during the holidays in Blekinge. I didn’t get a bike until we had had the summer cottage for a few years, so I had to walk. It didn’t matter; I had the day to myself and was never bored. The forest was my friend, and I was never afraid, not even when it was dark. It was almost never that anyone came on the road, and you could hear cars from a distance, so you could move aside. One day, as I was lost in my thoughts, I got that feeling that someone was watching me. You probably know the feeling when you think someone is behind you, you turn around, and there’s no one there.
I didn’t often get that feeling because, as I said, I felt quite safe. But on this particular day, I turned around a couple of times because I thought there was something, but I saw nothing. The third time I turned and looked, there was a dog walking right behind me, and I got the shock of my life. I screamed, not because I was afraid of the dog, but just because there actually was someone there. The dog was also shocked when I screamed and ran away from me, looking back, reproachful and offended. I tried to call it back, but it had had enough of me and trotted off into the forest again. Probably a hunting dog out with its owner.
I usually went to Bertil in Slätten after I had seen his horses and knew I was welcome. Bertil took me everywhere when he went out with the horse. I learned everything about driving in the forest, harvesting hay, and spreading manure. He also sometimes drove to neighboring farms if he had business there. He drove the horse more often than he drove his car.
After I had been with Bertil for a while and he saw that I could ride, I was also allowed to ride Hamn. Hamn was wonderful to ride, and I enjoyed every minute.
One day, my parents asked if Bertil would like to come over for coffee, and he didn’t say no and naturally came driving with Hamn, so he could allow himself a little drink if offered. He unhitched Hamn when he arrived, and the arrangement was that I would watch Hamn while Bertil had coffee.
Now it happened that the good Lord took no account of Bertil wanting to have coffee, so it started to rain while I was standing there watching Hamn. What do you do then? I’ve never been one to hesitate between thought and action, so I led Hamn into the basement and tied him to a door handle. I also didn’t like the idea of the adults having coffee without me, so I went up to join them in the house.
Bertil jumped up from his chair when he saw me and wondered what I had done with Hamn. I told him that he was standing dry and fine in the basement, so there was no problem 🙂 Bertil couldn’t help but laugh when he saw that Hamn was standing calmly and patiently waiting for us, but he thought we shouldn’t tempt fate, so he took Hamn out again.
By then, the rain had also stopped, so we didn’t get wet as we drove back to Bertil’s place again.
Here we are hitching Hamn again after coffee and a brief stay in the basement. Circa 1970.
