Fourth chapter from the end

To interview Buffalo Bill outside Denver

Mamas, do not let your babies grow up to be cowboys

Do not let them pick guitars and drive them old trucks

Make them be doctors and lawyers and such

Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings

At 2 AM someone is knocking on the door of my air bnb room in Denver. It's my hostess standing outside with a cup of hot tea with honey. She has heard that I have been coughing a lot tonight and wants to relieve my cough, as I probably got out of the air conditioning on the bus here.

The cough is really relieved, but it id hard to fall asleep. I lie playing with my phone camera and suddenly come across something. The pictures I have deleted may need to be deleted once again. I quickly find out how I'm doing and suddenly I have room for thousands of pictures on my phone. Yes!

That is the way the traveler's night also can be. As caring as my hostess, American fellow human beings can be. Although Donald Trump is evil there are many good people.

I was coming to Denver with a bus and was immediately impressed by the train station that is located above the bus station in the underground. Like so many other stations in the United States, it is called the Union Station. It is not only impressing but also very cozy with a range of restaurants, a bookstore and a hotel.

Outside there is a special parking space for Uber. I do not see any regular taxis. A big red jeep from Uber takes me to my air bnb room. It turns out to be twice as expensive as a regular taxi would have been. But what the hell. My room both pleasant and cheap. After many hours in a seated position on the bus from Billings, I can not find any restaurant so I buy two 18 centiliters bottles of red wine from a kind old lady, sitting alone with her cat in her liquor store in the house next to where I stay. In the nearby grocery store I buy two bread rolls and a small piece of cheese wrapped in plastic. This simple meal I eat at the desk in my room.

I get my computer and study the map of Denver to check out the top 10 attractions on Tripadvisor. I memorize the streets I'm going to go tomorrow. Then I fall asleep.

This is how the traveler's everyday life can be.

Late in the morning, I walk towards the city center. As I pass the impressing library, a crying man in his 50's comes up to me. He looks really like a Swedish friend, whom I have never seen crying.

The man talks about his awkward location. He has traveled from Albuquerque to Denver to bury his grandmother. After the funeral he was robbed of all his money that he would have used for the return ticket. He resisted and showed off his bloody knees. The tears are flowing down his cheeks while he is talking.

Normally, I do not give money to begging children, nor to men or young women. Old begging ladies can get a dollar or two from me. When I went to East Africa in my youth, I learned that the one who gives money to begging children teaches them not to work. It is better to give to projects that work to get the beggars on their feet. In addition, I now avoid having cash in my wallet at home in Sweden.

I may be fooled by a good actor, but I feel sorry for the man from New Mexico who has lost his grandmother. I pick up a five-dollar bill and give him. He thanks quickly and goes on crying and contacting more people he meets.

Can his story be made up?

When I come to the 16th street, the combined bus and pedestrian street in the city center, it is lined with beggars with well formulated signs to get people passing by interested in giving them money. I'm surprised that so many beggars are so young.

Why are they standing here? Have they been passivized by drugs? Cannot they afford to study? Have they been trying a job but did not succeed?

Actually, I'd like to ask them, but I realize that if I do, I will have to give them money to get their story.

The street is lined with outdoor diners and the weather is beautiful, but the well-being is pulled down by the fact that there is about a noisy bus every the minute in every direction. The buses are free so people seem to use them instead of their feet. I keep moving around downtown, but I do not like Denver as much as I had imagined.

The next morning I decide to rent a car and go up to the Rocky Mountains. The day before, I have noticed an Avis office in the city center and I am going there quickly to try to rent a car, which is not too damaging to the environment.

When I get to Avis the only car available today is a big black Dodge SUV with seven seats. I really would like to go up in the mountains that do not look far away, so I accept the thirsty vehicle. I have been to the Rocky Mountains once before and like them this time also. The valleys are not as deep as in the Alps, so it's a nice light at the bottom too. I drive about 100 miles to the ski resort of Vail and turn back. In Frisco I stop for lunch. I almost feel like a cowboy when I park the big SUV across a street where I should really have tied up my horse. The whole small town seems to be built as an imitation of a small town in the wild west of the 19th century.

Bread + Salt seems to be a nice place for lunch. It's almost full this normal weekday in November. I take the last free table and order coffee and a vegetarian sandwich, which turns out to be really, really good.

On the wall is a black board, where it is written with white chalk:

"No wifi, please chat with each other like it's 1985"

After a while, a man who looks like an aged cowboy with a worn hat, checkered shirt and high heeled leather boots comes in and looks around. He asks if he can sit down at my table.

Should he eat beans and chili, I wonder a little prejudiced. Much of my insufficient knowledge of cowboys, I have received from the Lucky Luke children series. Comically, the man presents himself like Lucas.

It soon turns out that the looks is deceiving – at least in part. Lucas has worked most of his life as a successful attorney in Denver. He has a small farm not far from Frisco, and he spent three years here after retiring to stay as far away from criminals as he can. He orders a sandwich with bacon and a beer. If he had not driven a car, he would have taken a whiskey as well, he reveals.

I tell him that I own a forest farm since almost 50 years. Lucas says he envies me. If 50 years ago he had known what he knows now, he would probably have invested in a farm.

Just like me, he thinks that every day in the free outdoors on his own property is a happy day. He also benefits from doing a real job that gives results every day rather than sitting and turning papers and paragraphs that do not always have a connection to real life.

Nevertheless, he tells me that he is going to lease his farm for two years from the summer. His wife is far from a cowgirl and does not like life at the farm. Now she is still working as a teacher at the Denver University, but will retire next summer. She has sacrificed her own interests and spent the weekends at the farm in the mountains for the past three years. When she retires, she instead wants to travel. She has long dreamed of seeing the world outside of Colorado.

Lucas is not so keen on traveling, but he wants to do it for his wife. He leaves the farm with some hesitancy to drive into Frisco and have lunch. He gets a little interested in my trip, want to know what's fun. I assure that the most fun is to sit in bars and cafes and meet guys like Lucas. Since I have also traveled a lot with my wife, mostly the two of us together, but also on some group trips, I know that every way of traveling has its good sides. I wonder if Lucas had settled down at my table if I had been sitting here with my wife.

No, he had not.

He is wondering how hard it is to travel without being able to speak a language other than English. I know something about that. I do not have much advantage of speaking fluent Swedish and German traveling outside Europe. In Africa and Asia, it is easy to get along with English, although contacts with locals may become a bit shallow. Travellers who cannot speak Spanish in Latin America have to rely heavily on their body language.

I have a nice memory of a host in his 70's who at breakfast repeatedly asked something in Spanish that I did not understand. Eventually he gave up and began to jump around the kitchen sounding like a hen. Then I understood that he wanted to know how I wanted my breakfast eggs. I made a rotating gesture with my right index finger in my left hand palm. Then he immediately understood that I wanted scrambled eggs. Just a few minutes later I had scrambled eggs without bacon on the plate.

This happened in Havana.

Lucas tells me his wife has something of a bucket list that he may not have hundred percent control of, but he tells some names from memory. Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Athens, Barcelona and Vienna are the cities he remembers. He wondered if I have been to any of these cities.

Yes, I've been in all of these.

He wants to know which one is my favorite city and I choose between Berlin and Rome. I would like to suggest some other European cities that I can recommend. Siena, Freiburg and Sarajevo are some of my favorites next to the most obvious.

Lucas wonders if it's not hard to travel for as long as I do, as I'm not a young man any more. No, it becomes a routine and a natural way of life. Through Facebook, I also have many fellow travelers.

What may be difficult is when health is failing, but most problems are possible to get used to. I tell Lucas about my catheter routines in the bus toilets and he looks terrified.

He himself does not have any health problem, but realizes that he must be well insured when travelling. He asks if he can follow me on Facebook and of course he can. I look forward to following his and his wife’s travels.

As I approach Denver on my way back, I see an interesting message on a signpost: Buffalo Bill's Museum and Grave. Without consideration, I turn off the highway. After just over 3 miles, I come to a big parking lot next to the museum and the grave. I go up to the grave on a hill with a great view at one side and a forest grove to the other. I have googled and read about Buffalo Bill, who was actually called William F Cody and lived a life as a jack of all trades and died 99 years ago, almost 71 years old.

I feel this is a man I would like to interview. There is no reason to hesitate.

• Hello Bill, I have to start by congratulating an extremely beautiful burial site. Then I have a number of question I hope you could answer. Initially, you started to work at the age of 11. Did you feel abused?

– What do you think?

• You participated in the war against the original peoples of the United States. How many Indians have you killed?

- That is not your business.

• You have received a medal for bravery in the war against the Indians. Are you proud?

– Yes.

• You met the famous Indian chief Sitting Bull. What did he say to you?

– Fuck off.

• It is said that you have shot 4,000 buffaloes in total. How many buffalo have you shot really? Are you ashamed of it?

– I've shot more than 4,000. Why would I be ashamed?

• You got the name Buffalo Bill since you provided the workers on the Kansas Pacific Railroad with buffalo meat. Did you never consider being a vegetarian?

– I was a vegetarian. The meat I sold.

• You later toured Europe with a western show and met the British royal family, the German emperor and the pope. Have you regretted that you left the United States?

– I regret leaving Europe.

• How did you experience old age?

I had to pee all the time.

• The day before your died, you converted to Catholicism. Why?

– It was easier to be forgiven there.

• What would you like to be forgiven for?

– That is none of your business.

• They have made movies, written books and composed music about you. Do you have any favorites?

– No.

• Sorry to bother you, but I have one last question. The author Mark Twain wrote a book about your favorite horse Soldier Boy. Are you proud of your horse or do you think you would have been the star?

- Cut that out. Leave me alone. I'm dead for Christ’s sake.

I give up. You cannot get anything interesting out of this but the beautiful view.

After returning the unnecessarily big rental car to Avis, I go to a pizzeria among all the buses on the 16th street. It is before the dinner break so the waitress has time to be talkative. She asks where I am from, and becomes very enthusiastic when I tell her that I am from Sweden.

She has been reading a lot about Sweden for a long time and has even thought about moving there. Since Donald Trump won the election, she has been thinking about asking for political asylum in Sweden for the reason that she is a woman. Now she is determined. She will not move anywhere, but stay here and do whatever she can to fight Donald Trump.

Although she already has read a lot about Sweden, she asks many questions about how health and education systems work, among other things. She would like something like that in the United States when Trump has been set aside.

I do not want to paint out Sweden as a perfect example, but I have noticed that the US has a lot to deal with. Poverty, environmental problems and ignorance just to name a few examples.

The interest in visiting Sweden seems to be great. Sometimes I'm surprised I do not meet more tourists from the United States at home, considering everyone who wants to know more about Europe and Sweden. The fact that I do not meet them in my part of southern Sweden may be because they go to the big cities when they are on their fast tourist trips.

On my last day in Denver, I devote lunch to testing different sorts of beer at one of the nice local micro breweries. The sympathetic bartender tells us that last summer he was on vacation in Sweden and Norway. His favorite city was Falkenberg on the west coast. It may be because he met a nice woman, with whom he stayed for a week. They still have a lot of contact. The bartender could consider moving to Sweden, but does not really know how to do getting a job. He does not know Swedish. I assure him that there's hardly any problem if he wants to work in a bar. Sweden is a country that is becoming English-speaking.

Next to me at the bar is an old woman sitting and testing many kinds of beers. I'm a little surprised. Old ladies are not as common as old men at the bars. When Laura, as she's called, and I've been discussing 20 minutes about the beers we've tried, we'll get into the pros and cons of old age.

Laura is short, slender, has gray curly hair and a lot of wrinkles in her face. She is a real beauty. Laura tells me that she four years discovered a tumor, which seemed to be almost incurable. She prepared that each week could be the last one. She hesitated whether she would submit to the painful treatment offered or if she would give up. Without so much reflection, she said yes to the treatment, even though she had realized that the forecast was not so good. She had a feeling that the hospital wanted to sell the treatment to earn money, but she did not mind the hospital's money if they managed to cure her.

A year later, after many tears of pain, Laura was declared "probably cured".

She then faced the fact that she had a new life almost as a gift. It could be three months, three years or maybe 30 years. What would she do with this new life? Her husband had passed away already twelve years ago and the two children were very busy with their careers and never had time to get any grandchildren to Laura. So she only has herself to think about.

She chose between several approaches to the new life. Pedantically and pedagogically, she presents her choices in point form:

• An alternative would be to return to work life. She has been an architect all her life and has become famous for drawing both spectacular and energy-efficient houses. Many customers queue to make her resume her work.

• Another option is to go out and travel in the world. Laura has been studying and looking at houses in a large part of the world, but she is tempted to travel around and test microbreweries in remote countries. And to talk to people who are not architects.

• The third option is to engage in politics. There is a need for politicians who can cope with the evil and ignorance of the United States. Laura has easy to express herself so she thinks she would win many debates.

• The fourth option is to devote to her slightly worn body. Laura believes she would feel better if she is well-trained and she has understood that strength and fitness can be practiced high in the ages.

• The last option is to engage in what Kurt would call charity, but as Laura calls voluntary work. There are so many activities in the United States, based on the fact that people want to do something good in their spare time or old age.

The choice is facilitated by her financial independence. Laura has difficulty choosing an option. She has already realized politics is no option. It does not work to be politicians just one day of the week. She would be a politician 24 hours a day, seven days a week her friends in the Democratic Party have told her.

Now Laura begins with a physical exercise every day. Every other morning she runs five miles and every other day she goes to a gym that has focused on people over 70.

When there is a real architectural challenge, she says yes. Usually she gets really well paid. She usually gives the money either to a politician fighting for the environment and against violence or to an organization that works for children's rights.

Once a year, she tries to make a journey really far away to widen the views. The last trip went to Vietnam, where she was impressed by how happy the people seem and how beautiful the country is. Next trip may go to Japan. There she wants to go for a course to learn how to cook healthy food.

Laura spends a lot of time on social activities. For a while, she worked to rehabilitate beggars, but got fed up when she realized that many of the beggars in Denver were white middle class youngsters who smoked too much weed. Now she devotes most of her power to making visits to retirement homes, talking to really old people who do not get so many other visits.

One thing she has realized after living her new life for a few years. She must make sure to have fun too. Certainly, most things she deals with are fun and creative, but she found out that she has no pure pleasures that are just relaxing. Now she goes to the movies and concerts more often. She has a new habit: to go to any of the city's micro breweries every Saturday afternoon, try beer and talk to other guests.

I ask Laura if there are any associations for retired people in the United States. She does not really understand the question. Even though she and I have a lot of aging questions, she does not think it's so meaningful to categorize people according to their age. Certainly, at a certain age, many people need retirement because they cannot work anymore.

Laura prefers to hang out with people of all ages, from different countries, men and women, poor and rich, long and short.

I tell her about the Swedish associations for retired, which in all cases, from my horizons, seem to be a forum for gnawed old men and grumpy old ladies. In my view, the Swedish retirement unions dedicate themselves to limiting old people and making them victims of bad politicians instead of widening the opportunities for the olds.

I do not want to be a victim. Neither does Laura.

We agree that it is important to carefully think about what we want to do with our last years from the knowledge that each day may be the last one, and not to limit the possibilities. Certainly Laura and I have the advantage of better finances than many others, but we also see that there is much meaningful to do even if we would run out of money sometime.

Laura and I talk and talk all afternoon about the differences between being young and old. And about being old, yet feeling young. I lose count of how many beers we drink and how many bowls of nuts we order, but none of us feel drunk.

Of course, we become Facebook friends before we part.

After this nice afternoon with Laura, I knock down to Union Station, where my black bag is already is checked in. Now 20 hours on the train to  Chicago is waiting. And now I'll insert my hundredth catheter on American soil, I read from my urine diary.

It will be a relaxing trip. When the morning comes, I travel over a prairie that never seemes to end. The trip will end at another Union Station.

From Kurt Andersson’s Facebook 

Tom Ford, Memphis

Last night our drummer left our band, the Blues Siblings. He is studying law at the university and does not want to be a full time musician. 

Are you a drummer who likes to be a part of our band? Or do you know someone who would be perfect for our band? Please contact me.

We are making a record in a couple of weeks and we are booked in for more concerts than ever. The future looks bright.

Mia Turner, New Orleans

Never before have I heard so many customers talking about politics as after the president election. I feel it would have been better if they had those debates before choosing a grumpy old man as our president.

Mary Jackson, Dallas

Hi Kurt! I am very sorry to hear about the robbery in Seattle. Are you all right or has that destroyed your journey making you scared of going out?

When I first read about you threating that little punk I laughed, but then I got worried. Take care of yourself. If you are going to Chicago you should be really careful. They shoot a lot of people there. I don’t want you to be into more trouble.

Natalie Miles, Albuquerque

Hi! I am sorry about what happened to you in Seattle. It shows that there are far too many shotguns in this country. I am glad that you showed that words are better than guns and bullits. The next four years I am afraid we will have a lot more shootings in this country. An aggressive president will provoke aggressive young people to be more violent. 

I hope that you will have a safe time before you go home. I read that guns are unusual in Sweden.

Angela Williams, San Francisco

Now I am suddenly fine and back to work again. Thank you for your compassion while I was in bed with all the viruses!

Burt Anderson, Portland

Hi Kurt! I read about the robbery in Seattle and I am really happy that it turned out well. But you should really be careful out there. Take a taxi or an Uber when you are going home late at night. I hope that you will have a safe ride!

Emma Jones, Portland

Please, forgive me!

Facts about Denver

• Denver is the capital of the state of Colorado.

• Denver had 649,495 inhabitants in 2013.

• The University of Denver has approximately 11,800 students.

• Denver is a center for logistics and energy companies.

• Denver serves as the gateway to skiing in the Rocky Mountains.

Read more at www.denver.com

Here Buffalo Bill rests