Over a week ago I spent a night in a
hostel in Oslo, and it was there that I met an American named Sara.
She was pretty, energetic, and to my great surprise accepted my
invitation to kayak with me for nine weeks in Norway. Nobody
ever accepted my random invitations. I was shocked. The only kayak
she'd ever been in was a sit-on-top, which is not really a kayak at
all. I talked her down to a week. Perhaps I wouldn't make lots of
miles, but she was pretty enough so that it didn't matter.
She couldn't start right away, but
she'd rent a boat from a local outfitter and meet me in Geiranger.
I never thought she'd actually show up so far from anywhere. What
were the odds that I would get to paddle for a week with a beautiful
woman in Norway's breathtaking fjords? We're talking about me; I'm
about as likely to hook up with a beautiful woman for a week of
kayaking as a princess is to find a prince while kissing frogs, because
that's the girl I need, only I don't turn into a prince so hopefully
Sara won't be disappointed.
She showed up Saturday afternoon after a long bus ride through the night. We talked about kayaking and how my
trip had been so far. We talked about the gear we had and the gear
she needed. We talked about her time in Norway; she's looking for
work in communications. We talked about her schooling and her
husband back home and how she's working on her thesis for her masters
to graduate.
Maybe she meant ex-husband. Did you
say you were married?
"Yah. He's applying to medical school."
I should have taken my grandma's advice
and become a doctor.
It looked like I'd be kayaking slowly
for a week with a girl who, like most others, wasn't the least bit
interested in me. Maybe she had some redeeming characteristic that
made up for her being married, like the ability to juggle flaming
batons. That would have been cool.
Except there was news in the evening.
The outfitter she was going to rent the kayak from changed the price.
The old price apparently hadn't included delivery to Geiranger, even
though that had been discussed at length. The new price was too
expensive for her, so she couldn't come after all.
I felt guilty that she came all that
way on account of me with nothing to show for it. My hosts, who only
did daily kayak rentals, gave us a kayak for the day for free. We
paddled for an hour to a trail head at the bottom of the fjord and
climbed to a breathtaking vista near the top. The paddling and the
climbing took almost all day, and it was a day well spent for both of
us.
Besides the great hike, my chafing
wounds got to heal a little bit. I taught some kayaking techniques
to my hosts in the evening, and I was invited to go backpacking in
South America with Freeda in the fall. Freeda is a dazzlingly
beautiful Scandinavian who studied at the University of Miami
on a full rowing scholarship.
I don't yet have a teaching gig for next year since the school that I taught at last year announced on the last day that they were closing. It would be amazing to go to South America with Freeda. I don't know if I have enough money, and I'd probably meet her there only to find that she brought a boyfriend. Except what if that boyfriend turned out to be me?
I don't yet have a teaching gig for next year since the school that I taught at last year announced on the last day that they were closing. It would be amazing to go to South America with Freeda. I don't know if I have enough money, and I'd probably meet her there only to find that she brought a boyfriend. Except what if that boyfriend turned out to be me?
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