Tues.-Sun., May 6-11, 2025
It was an eventful week which ended in a heat wave.
Our first milestone was . . .
. . . Laurie's 26th birthday of
the 2000s!
We went to Eggs and Things for breakfast where she thoroughly enjoyed her cinnamon roll French toast topped with slices of bananas, strawberries and blackberries.
In the evening she said she wanted a fish taco so we were off to Ruby's Mexican Restaurant.
Her wishes on this day were my commands.
DAMN, we're getting really close!
Our Roman Catholic Church elected a new Pope this week, the 267th Pope in the church's history.
Pope Leo XIV
a.k.a., Robert Francis Prevost
He is the first Pope born in the United States, the first from Peru where he is now a citizen and the second from the Americas after the recently deceased Pope Francis who hailed from Argentina.
I loved the comment on TV by ABC's David Muir, I believe, that this Chicago native is viewed as "the least American of the Cardinals because he is not as loud and outspoken as his American colleagues."
Of course, MAGA believers were upset because while he was still a Cardinal the new Pope was indeed outspoken in stating that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance in particular and much of the current Administration's policies were not of a true Christian bent.
Another issue for the MAGA crowd was the fact that Pope Francis addressed the massive crowd (probably twice the size of the one for Le Grande Orange's recent inauguration) in St. Peter's Square just after his election in Latin, Italian and Spanish.
That he did not say anything in English was a sore point for the MAGAs, after all, English was good enough for Jesus.
The new Pope was also a big hit on the FaceBook as you can see below.
Truth
The Bears all-time best single season passer was QB Erik Kramer in 1995 with 3,838 yards.
They are the only one of the 32 NFL teams to have never had a 4,000 yard single season passer.
The Green Bay Packers fans are
all as bunch of heathens!
I absolutely LOVED this one
Pope Leo XIV is indeed a White Sox fan. It was initially reported erroneously that he was a Cubs fan.
That's a long, LONG time
I need one of these!
Take that Packers fans!
MAGA's failed Papal candidate
As the Camarillo Cosmos season wound down, the athletes competing in last Saturday's Ventura County Youth Track Conference Varsity Finals all got together to share a meal at Topper's Pizza in Camarillo.
A lot of happy athletes full of pizza
and soft drinks!
Saturday's VCYTC Varsity Finals
were held at Newbury Park H.S.
It would be a long day in the heat as the temperatures reached 90°F/32.2°C at High Noon.
Jacob, 13 years old, was competing in the Youth Division consisting of Boys ages 13 and 14.
He was scheduled to compete in four events today: the 4 x 100 Meter Relay, the 800 Meter Run, the Long Jump and the 4 x 100 Meter Relay. He would run the anchor leg on both relays.
Sprinting by me in the . . .
. . . 4 x 100 Meter Relay
Jacob's team finished in 8th place with a time of 53.53 which is the fastest time that any 4 x 400 Meter Relay team that he has been on the last three years has run.
There was also a special five person Coach's Medley 1600 Meters Relay on Saturday that involved coaches running legs of 100 Meters, 100 Meters, 200 Meters, 400 Meters and 800 Meters.
Our son Michael who coached the Cosmos Long Jumpers and Hurdlers volunteered to run the 400 Meter leg of this relay.
One problem, his shoes were too tight and he felt blisters coming on his heels during his warm-ups.
Only one thing to do . . .
. . . run barefoot, Zola Budd style
with a Dave Wottle hat
You may need to look those two old school Olympians up to get the reference.
His team came in 3rd place and he now has the blisters on the balls of his feet to prove it.
WHAT PRICE GLORY?
Jacob in the 800 Meter Run
By the time this race was contested it was really toasty.
Jacob finished in 6th place with an all-time Personal Record of 2:19.94.
At the end of his 800 Meters race he had to get to the Long Jump quickly to get in his three warm-up jumps and his four competitive jumps before the start of the 4 x 400 Meter Relay.
He looked a bit tired and rubber legged to me at this point after that 800 Meter run.
Up in the air!
He took off from that nearest
red line but he was a bit off today
His best jump on this day was 14'-2" which left him in 8th place.
I think he was a bit disappointed as this mark was well below his Personal Record.
Jacob running the anchor leg of
the 4 x 400 Meter Relay
His team earned the 3rd place Medal with a time of 4:09.87 which was only 0.12 seconds off of the team's seasonal best.
The Cosmos are the second team
on the right of the podium
Jacob waving to his Mother
It was the end of another good season of Cosmos Track & Field.
After the track meet we met at the kids'
home to celebrate a belated birthday
and an early Mother's Day for Laurie
Mary looked great in her pink turban after hitting the community pool.
Non-Pope news from the net . . .
I get it
Two Marine Biology related
photos in a row!
The Italian DI Championship Game
is coming to the USA again
Currently the two conference leaders hoping to play in this game to be played in Ohio at the University of Toledo's Glass Bowl Stadium on June 28th, are the Ancona Dolphins (7-1) and the Firenze Guelfi (9-0).
There is still a ways to go before the ten game regular season is over and the playoffs determine the two finalists.
Anybody up for a roadtrip?
Chicago tacos?
This might be a stretch for even Pope Leo XIV.
Especially on the deliciously
grimy streets of Ciudad de Mexico!
If only this were true
I was once that kid,
how about you?
From the mind of one of Monty Python's
best comedians straight to my heart
Another good few days, life continues to be good in peaceful Camarillo, California.
