(Het is allemaal over Bessie)
It started out fairly innocently.
‘just a new promotion at my local AH grocer, supporting the Dutch team at the World Cup (Hup!). The little furry beesie was kind of cute in a way…I got one for every 15 euros I spent on groceries, and collected all four colors in a couple of days. They curl around lamps and chair backs, and were a nice accent around the apartment for the party last week.
But they’ve taken on a life of their own.
No bag of groceries is safe, and beesie started to metastasize across my apartment, colonizing every rail, pole, and rung. The big BESSIE-BOA was next: A gift for my daughter, but clearly queen of the brood once she moved in.
Soon, the trouble became reminiscent of …
Of course, they have a Facebook group, they are on LinkedIn, they want my personal information (only Basic and Profile, nothing more, promise…) 
At least they’re not on Wikipedia. Yet.
Utrecht’s Flamingo points to a Flickr group devoted to people’s Bessie photos. I threatened Invader Stu that I would see to it that two new colors were released and the promotion extended if he didn’t return summer to the Netherlands. I don’t think he’ll cave, unfortunately (sorry, Holland, I tried…).
I have taken to stuffing them into my suitcase to give to friends and family when I travel. This is akin to spreading disease via long-haul flights. The BOA, in particular, seems to have found her best friend in my hotel room this morning.
‘not a good sign…
