I had taken my Swedish girlfriend, Anna, to see MIDSOMMAR. She had moved to Austin to attend our university and I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world with a hot Swedish girlfriend. I wanted to know what she'd think of it. We laughed, we screamed, we cringed. By the time the big sex scene rolled out, I was laughing though Anna grew quiet.
"Why are you laughing, Dylan?" she asked me afterward.
"It was ridiculous. Funny as shit." I replied.
"I found it stimulating." She grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her so I could feel that her crotch was very warm and heated.
"Whoa, you liked it that much?" It's true what they say about Swedish women - they have no hang-ups about sex.
"It's similar to an actual Swedish ritual we call Skorda. Skorda means 'The Harvest.'"
I couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, so we drove home in silence. I figured Anna was pissed off that I was laughing at her customs.
The next month, Anna wanted me to meet her visiting family. Her mother, grandmother, and two aunts were visiting Austin all the way from Sweden. They wanted to try Texan BBQ. They wanted to see the Alamo. Of course they wanted to meet me, Anna's boyfriend.
I decided to Texan it up with cowboy boots, jeans, a belt with a big buckle and a Western shirt. Top it off with a straw cowboy hat, and I looked at myself in the mirror and gave myself a couple finger guns - I looked good.
When I borrowed my dad's SUV so that we could all fit. I arrived at Anna's and was impressed that her relatives were all white-blonde-haired. They all looked good for their ages - I was guessing her mom and aunts were in their 50s while her grandma was in her 80.s
"Hello, Dylan. I am Greta Nielsen. These are my sisters, Inga and Ebba. This is my mother, Olivia." Her mother shook my hand. "You are a very handsome, tall cowboy."
"Thank you m'am." I touched the brim of my hat. "Welcome to Texas. Anna and I are thrilled y'all came to visit."
We let her mom, Greta, ride shotgun so that Anna could chat in Swedish with her aunts and grandmother. They giggled and looked up at me from time to time, so I made conversation with her mom.
"First time in America?"
"Yes, dear, beautiful big country." To my surprise, Greta patted my hand I was resting on the shift knob. "My, Dylan, big hands!" She smiled at me.
"Yes, m'am." I smiled back.
"Dylan, tell me. Are you sleeping with Anna?"
I went red and started to stutter, "Oh, well, um, geez..."
"Don't be shy, Dylan. We are all adults here. I want to know if you are having sex with Anna."
"Um, well, yes, I guess." I kept my eyes on the open road.
"That's good, that's good. Anna wouldn't have sex with any man. You are tall, handsome, dark hair. You look Italian."
"There might be. I think we're Italian/Spanish way back."
"Good, good." She continued to pat my hand, but when I pulled away to put both hands on the steering wheel, she patted my thigh instead.
We toured the Alamo, lunched on the Riverwalk, and then Anna announced she wanted to stop off in a field so we could take pictures of blue bonnets, the national flower of Texas.
I took an exit off Highway 35 and headed inland until I found a huge field of flowers. The Swedish women climbed out of the car and ran into the field, laughing. I shook my head at the sight of these older women, giggling and laughing as if they were in a commercial for vitamins.
Anna pulled out a picnic basket, spread out a blanket, and the 5 of them sat down.
Greta pointed at the blanket beside her. "Come, Dylan, sit down and have a snack! I've made liverwurst sandwiches."