Baseball, Family, and Summer

Ah........... the boys of summer, America's past time, BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!

There is something unique about spending an entire week sitting on a hard bleacher, eating sunflower seeds, and watching your body sizzle from the burning sun, that drives us to say "we love our baseball"..... but we do - day in day out - baseball consumes our lives for over 160 games.
But............ the best game in town is NOT the gazillion dollar paid "pros" . It is the essence of baseball, that vulnerable age where there is no real ego, no "absolute" need to win, no pressure from the parents that drives the kid to early ulcers of stress. The best baseball is in the 13 and younger league. It is the true baseball, pure as it was intended.
Ok - I realize that there are always going to be the overzealous parent who freaks out if their kid doesn't play, or doesn't get the winning out. But what I really mean is the ambiance that is summer baseball.
Heat,
Kids, Baseballs,
parents cheering,
and kids who just love what they are doing.
So why the waxing nostalgia???
I had one the of the best weeks of my life 2 weeks ago when my brother and nephew , Mason, came to Tulsa for the National World Series for the 13 year olds............. Super Series.


Not only did I get to see my brother - who we only get to see about twice a year - we got to watch Mason play ball. We (my sister and I ) were there, morning - 8:00am games, and there at night (10:45pm) when that game started. We were there Sunday through Friday morning................ we were there, cheering, sweating.
There is a peace, a smile that comes over the face when you step out of the scene and just look around and watch the innocence of the world in those kids.

Will any of them go on to the Pros??? don't really know. But what I do know is that there was a lot of love on this team, between the players, the parents, and especially for two Aunts that were just happy to be there.

Venice, Italy

As we continued on our trip we ventured into Venice. Now I know I will probably make a lot of people mad, but to be honest with you Venice was not my cup of tea. I could have been happy doing a one hour tour of Venice, learned about the history and gone back to the mainland. But...

I did learn about how Venice was built on top of trees that have petrified

under water. It was interesting to see the canals, and to know that there are no cars, no firetrucks, no ambulances - those are all done by boat.

The gondolas were interesting. Several of our students decided to take the ride. It was a little expensive but they wanted the experience.

This next part is a little personal so I hope you will not mind my detour from the "history" of our trip. You see, Tuesday May 29th was a nerve wrecking day for me because my daughter was back in Tulsa, Oklahoma having a C-Section for our second grandson!!!! With a 7 hour time difference only meant that I would have more "daytime" to worry. As I have mentioned before I find it hard to go by a Catholic church without lighting a candle, and for some reason I kept coming back to this church so I went inside and in the picture below you can see the two candles on the left - one for my daughter and one for my new grandson, with prayers that they would have wonderful lives, and be happy in the warm love of Christ.

All went well and I have an absolutely Beautiful Grandson named Jason. The next day I was on the bus heading to Switzerland when I took out some paper and wrote the following note:

" Life is good today. Yesterday I became a grandmother for the

second time to a beautiful Jason Riley.

Today I dipped my toes into the Adriatic Sea, and left

Venice behind. As we traveled north west to Verona we

could see the Alps, snow capped - and on my IPod I listened

to Enya and all of a sudden life was wonderful and peaceful.

My kids are asleep, and my life is fine.

The next song was "String of Pearls" by Glen Miller

- thought of WWII and the American Soldiers that had to

fight their way north from Italy to Germany - 60 years later

we sit on a bus, congested on a freeway knowing our

freedom and the cost our soldiers paid. I hope my

kids are able to appreciate their sacrifice."

Church

I wonder what my fascination is with the "Church". What is it about the architecture that I find so interesting. My faith is of the the Protestant church and yet I can not walk by a Catholic church in Europe without going in and lighting a candle..........or two......... and admiring all the beautiful artwork and statues. I must admit there is a peace there as well.

These pictures are from churches in Venice Italy, and Lucerne. Switzerland. These two pictures are from Venice Italy. the one to the left is St. Marks Cathedral.

It is believed that when St. Mark died his bones were stolen and brought to Venice where they were placed in safe keeping at a church later named St. Marks Cathedral. The art work in this church is indescribable as it is all in tiny mosaic pieces - mostly gold. All the churches in Venice have the lion with wings - it represents St. Mark. He is the patron saint of Venice.

This is the protestant church in Heidelburg Germany. We did not get to stop and go in, but it was beautiful even from a distance.

The next few pictures are from the Catholic Church in Lucerne. What impressed me the most was the use of Red Marble - everywhere. What also made this experience so unique was that someone was playing this wonderful large organ that just resonated throughout the Church. It was truly a moving experience.

This is the organ that is in the back of the church - absolutely beautiful.