Devshirme

It has now been more than a week but, as promised, here is more on our vacation to Maine.  We went on a little “lighthouse cruise” – basically, a boat ride from Perkins Cove to the Nubble Lighthouse  (technically the Cape Neddick Light) and back.  It was a beautiful day for such a thing, and the girls did great on the boat.  As we rounded the lighthouse I noticed seagulls beginning to swarm around the boat.  The guide brought out a loaf of sliced bread and told us this is where we get to feed the gulls.  Vaia had two slices and was tearing them and throwing them.  The gulls were literally right on top of us!  Vaia was hysterically laughing as we urged her to throw faster and further from the boat.   All went well, though, and on the ride back the guide told us that Mt. Agamenticus, a 700ft hill in York, is the tallest point on the coastal plain between Bar Harbor, Maine and Rio de Janeiro.  I immediately thought “I must climb it and stand on the top!”.  So the next morning, our last in Maine, I woke up early, drove 10 minutes or so to the mountain (not a Greek name, although it sounds it, but rather an Indian one) and ended up in the parking lot, which is at the summit.  So I hiked down and then back up – probably 30 minutes total, and a very steep hike, so I began the day with great exercise as well.  It is a very cool place and worth seeking out if you are in the York/Ogunquit area, plus it is a great peak to bag. 

While up there I saw what looked like some ancient steam roller but turned out to be the winch apparatus for the old ski lift back when it was a ski hill:

The other really cool thing is the grave, or more likely memorial, of St. Aspinquid, a local Indian who converted to Christianity.  He is likely a legendary character, but I took a rock and threw it on the memorial with the others while saying a quick prayer:

Here are some more pictures from the renovation.  First up – the foyer/bathroom area:

And the stage demolition in…well, stages:

The stage in particular was a real bear to take apart.  All of this is, of course, quite disruptive – I am out of an office for a couple of months, among other things -but well worth it.  More pictures to follow.

And the work continues.  Here are some more pictures of the extensive work begun Monday at the Cathedral.  Here is my denuded office, cleared of everything except the books, which have been covered.

Here is a view of the auditorium with stuff piled everywhere – many thanks to the GOYAns and college kids who lugged everything around for several days.

This sad picture shows the food pantry minus all the food.  The good news, though, is that the Orthodox Food Pantry will continue to run every Saturday out of the same building, and when the project is done it will have its own space, complete with a refrigerator – one feature which it does not currently have.

This is an airlock for the rooms where asbestos was found.  Asbestos is only a danger when it is removal time, so the rooms were secured and the stuff was all vacuumed out.  Ray, the project director, calls suprises such as the finding of asbestos “ghosts” because they pop up unexpectedly.

Demolition of the old bathrooms and foyer area:

This last picture shows one of the rooms which will now be opened up for a full view of the park.

Two new podcasts are up!  The first is a “lost episode” that includes our bizarre encounter with a graffiti-covered bus out in the country, while the second is about a trip to a farm.  You can check them out on the podcast site or on iTunes, where it is a free download (as it is on our site, of course).  If you get it from iTunes be sure to leave a comment!

Construction has begun on our remodeling project at the Cathedral.  Actually, demolition has begun, with construction to follow.  Here is a picture of a classroom being gutted:

We are back from our Maine vacation.  It was good to be away for a few days.  I will post more on our various adventures, but for now here are a couple of pictures of Vaia checking out the Portland Head Light and scenery.  This was one of two lighthouses we saw on our trip – we also saw the Cape Neddick Light, better known as the Nubble Lighthouse.

Last week, on one of those super hot summer days here in Worcester, I had a crazy and unpleasant adventure.  It was one of those days where I was zipping around to the different hospitals to visit parishioners.  On the way back from Memorial Hospital my coolant light dinged and lit.  I was near Elm Street and thus not too far from the Cathedral, as well as not too far from Takis & Sons, my go-to foreign auto mechanics.  I looked at the temperature gauge and it rocketed to the red zone.  Oh no!  My mission focus kicked in, and I drove straight to the church, since I had some stuff to take care of there.  I parked in a shady spot (like that would help), turned off the engine, and opened the hood.  I called Takis and he told me let the engine cool off for 20 minutes or so, turn it back on and see where the guage was.  If it was not in the red zone, drive it (the 3/4 of a mile/mile) to his shop.  If it hit the red zone en route, pull over and wait again.  So I had a nerve-wracking, knuckle-clenched, hunched-over-the-steering-wheel ride to Takis’s place, but the needle stayed midway and never reached the red zone.  The weird engine sounds which had begun on Elm Street, before I reached the church, kicked in and got louder.  But thankfully I reached his shop without the engine blowing up or anything else I feared might happen.  The damage from what was probably a busted thermostat on such a hot day?  The water pump, serpentine belt and belt tensioner all were toast, and the antifreeze tank was blown to smithereens.  Thankfully Takis took care of things that evening and the Jetta (and I) were back on the road the next morning.

Fallout has begun from LeBron James’s decision to sign with Miami.  The Cleveland owner has come out with the gloves off and lambasted James in this article not even a day after ”The Decision” was aired on ESPN.  My thoughts on all of this:

-I guess it is the competitor in me, but I am always disappointed when someone in basketball or hockey leaves a team to win a championship (Ray Bourque, Charles Barkley).  If you are a superstar, make it happen where you are.  In baseball or football it is different – one guy cannot have the same effect as in the other sports.

-Miami has already won a championship with Wade.  If, and nothing is guaranteed, they win another title, won’t LeBron be seen as second fiddle to some extent?

-Let’s keep in mind that as good as LeBron is, he has not won anything yet.  This whole decision thing has been narcissistic and ridiculous, as the owner points out in the article.   Did I follow and get swept up in it?  Of course!

-The owner makes many good points but he too played the game until the decision was announced.  No one is innocent in all of this.

-Will I be rooting for Cleveland, in addition to the Celts?  Absolutely.

Last night I set up an account on Twitter for the Cathedral.  You can keep track of our goings-on by following @StSpyridon.  I have a personal Twitter account – @FrXtakos – which I use for my own silly musings and ramblings, but the idea behind the Cathedral handle is that it will be used for announcing upcoming events, cancellations, maybe a weekly name day roundup, that sort of thing.  It is important for us as a Cathedral to embrace New Media stuff in all its forms, and Twitter is right up there with blogs, texting, podcasts, and Facebook.  Everything helps us get the word out.  So if you are on Twitter, please follow @StSpyridon.  If you are not, please at least check out the site and consider signing up.

Things are starting to happen with the garden.  We enjoyed our first green bell pepper the other day, and we have been harvesting herbs – mint, parsley, basil, thyme – and using them in different stuff.  I plucked my first red cayenne pepper – yum – this morning and also noticed that we have some cucumbers growing.  I did a second watering session in the afternoon (I don’t normally do two waterings but am this week due to the extreme heat), peeled back a leaf from the cucumber plant, and found one ready to go!  Here it is: