Aloha all,
it was the best of times. It was the worst of times:
August 7th was a blissful, happy day. That's when our friends Annett and Scott arrived to stay with us in Eigeltingen. They brought us a bottle of delicious raspberry schnapps. Schnapps is very important when visiting Germany, because it is officially acknowledged as the best remedy after overeating. Scott played guitar, we sang songs, we overate and we drank schnapps…
The Himbeerschnaps tasted so good, the evening was so much fun AND we were promised that this particular schnapps does not cause any headaches, so we drank enough of it that we were concerned that we might run out. So around 11pm, we ordered some more, while we were still drinking, which is a dangerous thing to do. The next morning we woke up (without a headache!), but we had ordered 10 liters of schnapps! That's over 2 1/2 gallons! There is a logical explanation for this, which we are happy to share. So if you ever want to know, just ask us about the “Himbeerschnaps Night” when you see us.
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| With our fellow haole Polynesians from New Zealand in Germany; blissfully unaware of the events the next day. |
August 8th was a dreadful, terrible day. That’s when our beloved hometown of Lahaina burned to the ground. It took a few days before the extend of the tragedy became clear. Actually, “clear” is the wrong word to use. Now, six weeks later, we pretty much know which areas have burned and which ones didn’t, but nothing else about the situation in West Maui seems “clear”. Things seem to change daily, making it hard for everybody to make any decisions. We still can’t really believe it: Over 100 people have died, including a friend of ours. Over 2,000 buildings have burned, including several of our friend's homes. Most of historic Lahaina town is now a pile of toxic ash.
The fire has caused enormous damage and even though our own apartments have been spared, it is probably the end of my little vacation rental business. But we feel lucky that we were so far away and with our family in Germany when this happened. Even just hearing and reading about it is so devastating, we can not even imagine how hard it must be to live through it. The aftermath will be hard enough.
No two disasters are the same and it would be pointless to compare them. But weirdly, I do take some solace remembering other times of distress. After 9/11 or during the beginning of the Corona pandemic, the future seemed equally uncertain, but life went on and things worked out. One of my favorite quotes is from Helen Keller: “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” I know this will be true for Lahaina, too.
Even though Lahaina has been constantly on our minds, we were grateful to spend so much quality time with family and friends. Sometimes it felt like we mostly ate, drank and talked, but we still got to discover few new places and see a few old favorites:
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| My hometown Breisach I took a bike trip to the bakery every morning, taking a different route home every day. |
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| On our traditional trip to the French Jura, this time even with our niece. Still our favorite restaurant in the world. |
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| We found new swim spots, Here in the Jura, but also on a bike trip from my hometown |
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| Street Art exhibit in the ramparts in Neuf-Brisach, across the border from my hometown. Surprisingly, they let artists paint on the walls of this Unesco World Heritage site. |
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| Another new discovery in France: Right across from my hometown you can take a little boat ride. The cutest part: It costs just 3 Euro. |
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| Breisacher Weinfest: First time for Sandra, first time back for me in over 30 years at the Wine Festival in my hometown |
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| We spent a weekend watching the German Ultimate Frisbee Championships. Now we have a German Champion in the family! |
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| Three days in the Taunus with Stefan & Natasa, including a trip to Rüdesheim, visiting a college friend in the hospital and a fun evening with Beatles music played on violins. |
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| Marianne organized a town party for us in Hirschaid. With food, music, beer and even fireworks! |
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| One of two trips to the charming town of Bamberg. We loved the Garden Museum and their Rauchbier ('smoked beer') |
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| The birthplace of Levi Strauss is a short bike ride from Marianne's home. Interesting, modern museum about the history of the man and the jeans. |
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| The tour with the night watchman was our favorite activity in the beautiful, medieval town of Dinkelsbühl: Interesting (but still confusing) history, stories, chants and drinks at several stops. |
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| The obligatory trip to the Olympiapark whenever we are back in Munich |
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| The pretty side of Oktoberfest: Beer & Friends. But our our outing ended quickly when the Chinese lady behind me started puking into her beer stein... |
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| With our college friends at Kloster Andechs Did I ever mention that one reason to study tourism was that there were three times as many girls as boys? |
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| Schloss & Kloster Salem The history is slightly longer and more confusing, but we enjoyed our tours there as much as we enjoy our American historical sites. |
We have been asked whether we will move back to Germany due to the situation in Lahaina. But after more than a quarter of a century Maui is our home. Also: It would be very unhealthy for us to stay in Germany any longer. Thanks to the pretzels, the beer and the delicious, but heavy German cuisine, we have already put on too many pounds. Our new habit of drinking Schnapps by the liter probably does not help eiter. Especially, after I found out that it actually can cause headaches...if it's mixed with a variety of beer and a pound of gummy bears.
I also have never exercised as little as in the last three month. Pushing a wheel chair is really not that hard, not even over the cobblestones of Dinkelsbühl. Next week, we will fly to Chicago, bring Joy further south for the winter and then come home to Maui, probably in early November.
Usually there is nothing but joy and anticipation ahead of our return to our beloved island home. We miss our Maui ohana, but it will be bittersweet this time. It will probably be painful to get final confirmation that all this was not just a bad dream. We know the devastation in Lahaina is dramatic, but it is also contained. It sounds like the rest of the island, the rest of the country and the rest of the world is there to help Lahaina recover. It will be a long and contentious process, but I have no doubt that Lahaina will rise again.
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| A hui hou, Germany! |
We are blessed to have awesome friends and loving family near and far...we will be back!
Chris & Sandra
