Yesterday, we had an idyllic farm picnic – a beautiful evening spent biking through the farm fields to McDonald’s, spreading out a blanket on open farmland and enjoying the setting sun peeking through the clouds.

Just moments after this photo was taken, maybe 6 minutes after we arrived, a farmer drove his tractor up to our picnic blankets and spoke the clearest, easiest-to-understand German I have heard to date:

“Was wissen Sie, was Sie da tun?” “What do you think you are doing?”

“Das its eine Bauernhof. Ich baue Essen an. Es ist Privat.” “This is farmland. I am growing food. It is Private.”

Well, Schade.