Devshirme

Vacation Church School ended today and was a smashing success.  Here is the lowdown: Greg Abdalah, the youth director at St. George Cathedral, started the program last year as a St. George program and with an eye to expanding it to be a Council of Eastern Orthodox Churches program this year.  We had 29 kids from St. George, St. Mary and our Cathedral and they all can’t stop talking about it.  The theme was Champions And Defenders.  From Wednesday up until Saturday the kids came from 9-12 at St. George and learned about various saints and martyrs of the church.  Each day began with a service in a “catacomb church” – basically, St. George’s meeting room decked out in black and darkened to resemble a cave.  They then had sessions where they did activities and lessons.  Snacks were provided by the Men’s Club.  Today – Saturday – we had the morning sessions.  The campers returned for vespers at 5, and then everyone rolled to Fitton Field for a picnic at the Worcester Tornadoes game.  Most of the campers wore their new VCS shirts (as did I over my priest shirt) and everyone had a great time.  Two of our group even got to take part in the pie eating contest.  I had the girls and brought them both to their first ever ballgame.  This meant a lot to me since I am a huge sports fan and have fond memories of going to games with my ‘rents.  Vaia enjoyed her hot dog and the game but was utterly terrified by the sight of Twister (just as she is by Wally the Green Monster).  Raphaela, meanwhile, managed to do something I have not been able to do in my 37 years on this mortal coil- get a foul ball.  During warmups we were in the picnic area down the left field line and a ball came in and bounced and landed right under her stroller.  (I think everyone gets a foul ball at this place – the stands are right on top of the diamond and the setup makes Fenway seem like Riverfront Stadium).

The program was a great success.  We may do one-day ones during school vacation – we will see.  We will definitely do another camp next August so stay tuned.  Here is a picture of Raphaela’s souvenir.  If she follows in Daddy’s footsteps and collects baseball cards and memorabilia then this will be the first item in her collection:

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.