Displaced Beachbums

It was a gorgeous August morning in Germany so FG and I decided to take the dogs for a walk in the forest, something we’d done on countless occasions over the past 3 years. FM was “away” so we drove out to the forest and proceeded to walk along a dirt trail. We were about a half mile from the car, FG and Sport were about 100 yards ahead of me when suddenly, FG turned to me with a look of sheer terror. My first thought was “OMG, she’s found a dead body” and, because she wasn’t moving, I thought she might be in shock. I yelled for her to run to me and that’s when I noticed a dark cloud over her. As she ran, I realized there was a swarm of bees attacking her!

I can’t even begin to describe the adrenaline that surged through me. Needless to say, the dogs were on their own at that point while FG and I ran as fast as we could to the car which was about a quarter of a mile away. The bees were only attacking her, not me or the dogs. We all made it to the car with the bees still swarming and a couple managed to get in the car. I raced the dogs home and headed to the emergency room all the while FG screaming from the pain. 

We stopped counting after 27 bee stings ~ most of which were on her head.  I had one sting on my hand from trying to pull the bees out of her hair and it hurt like heck ~ I can’t imagine the pain she was in. To this day, I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn’t driven to the forest and had walked there ~ the bees would have followed us all the way home, I’m sure.

After the incident, I researched the internet and according to all the descriptions, it sounded like it was africanized bees. Once FG was able to talk about it without crying, she explained Sport had stuck his nose into a hole in the ground and disturbed the hive. It was consistent that the bees only went after one target ~ the dogs didn’t have a single sting.

So far, we’ve not experienced any traumatic animal incidences here in Guam but it is a little disconcerting when FG hums the theme to “Jaws” every time she sees a large fish while snorkeling ~ now that’s a whole different kind of anxiety.   

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Ironically, our household goods were delivered here in Guam exactly one year to the day they were delivered to our house in Würzburg ~ 25 July.  As I look around on this Friday, I feel the same way I did a year ago, a bit overwhelmed with all the boxes that still need unpacking. We moved to Würzburg knowing it would be for less than a year and the impact it had on FG was heartbreaking. She hated saying goodbye to all her German schoolmates and leaving the only house she remembered living in. In hindsight, we could have done a better job prepping her but, in reality, both FM and I were also a bit in shock. He was suppose to stay in Vilseck for another year but that all got changed when 3rd BDE went away.

One of the biggest let downs of the move was quitting my job. I enjoyed working a lot and was challenged by it. Never was one day the same as the next. FG loved her nanny, Nadja, who helped her with German school work after classes and basically doted on her until I got home.  Sure, there were tough days at work and some less than my favorite people were around, but the good people made working worthwhile: like Ann, one of my favorites, who is now the head honcho and can move mountains when necessary. 😉

Living in Würzburg felt more like a vacation to me since I was always aware of how soon we would be leaving. On the positive side, the town is gorgeous and I loved being in a larger German city for awhile. There was always something going on around town and in the spring/fall we got to enjoy more than one winefest. We explored as much as we could and I will never forget the beautiful Christmas Market in December. Our little town of Rottenbauer had another advantage which was the strassenbahn (streetcar) line into the main city ~ no need for a designated driver. It’s the little things we appreciate so much.

All in all, the move to Würzburg was another adventure I don’t regret. We were much closer to France and ended up taking multiple trips there which was fabulous. I have to say though, there was more than one occasion in which FM and I would say What if we had stayed in Weiden…

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FG took ballet classes for 4 years in Germany. Her official dance recital was held in July 2004 at the Max Reger Halle in Weiden. FG was so excited to actually be on a real stage where we had seen several professional shows. I forget why they were covering their ears ~ it was a song about the Elefanten-Tanten (Dancing Elephant).

FM was not able to attend since he was out of town but I did drag my neighbor, Stephanie, since she only has boys and probably wouldn’t have many chances to attend a dance recital. It was a fun night and the only problem was I sat in the center of the second row and FG saw me as soon as she walked on stage. She froze for a minute but thankfully she didn’t wave and yell “Hi,Mom.” Her teacher, Kathrin, was so energetic and fun with all the girls in the class and they loved her. FG had such a positive experience that now she wants to be up on the stage all the time.

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