Swedish Torp
Gävle, Sweden (July 2019)
The older I become, the more I feel like odd connections happen in my life. It’s not that I’ve become superstitious or believe in cosmic connections (at least not while sober); I think it’s just that when you are older you have experienced more so there are more connections to be made.
Anyway, back in the summer of 2019 I arrived in Gävle before my Airbnb’s check-in time. So I wandered around the neighboring tiny farms and took photos of the curious buildings. I had the full intent of researching the buildings later (as they have similar counterparts in Denmark and Germany), but I didn’t. Instead, they found me with the release of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition in the following year. The newly introduced Swedish Civilization features these Swedish torps, which are key elements to successfully competing as the Swedes. What are the odds that I encounter Swedish torps for the first time (in my 50+ years of existence) in the year before a game I have spent far too many hours on reacquaint me with them less than a year later?
Swedish torp icon in AOEIII: Definitive Edition