Today was a day of highs and lows:
The absolute tremendous high, THE BEACH.
We arrive at the San Clemente Beach at 10:00 a.m. The chief lifeguard for the city of San Clemente is an umpire within District 68. He always said that when a team from Europe comes in let him know, and he would set up something special, Holy Cow did he go over the top. We arrive at the lifeguard headquarters and are met by Alyssa. She is just dynamite in every way. She welcomes all the Lits, explains to them what the day will be all about and off we go for the tour of the pier. The Lits all get to go up in the lifeguard tower, no one but no one ever gets to do this, I have never been allowed to do this. This is command central for the lifeguards, cameras, folks looking thru binoculars etc., radio command post etc. Lits just amazed at the technology just to keep swimmers safe. She takes them the rest of the way down the pier, introduces them to fishermen, etc., kids loved it.
Back to the headquarters where we meet lifeguard Nick, this young man is say 22, is the epitome of the Baywatch stud and he is immediately the Lits hero, the guy just looks like you would put your life in his hands and all would be right with the world. All get to sit in one of the beach jeeps, turn the bubble machine on top on, run the siren, talk on the radio etc. Attached to the jeep is a Seedoo that they use for rescues and one Lit is picked to sit on the Seedoo, don the helmet, the waterproof back-pack etc., son of a gun if he does not pick the Little Ed of the family of Ed’s, Edis is in his element, what a ham. All is going well until, Edis is told to raise his right arm to signal the rescue swimmer which way to jump off the back of the Seedoo, Edis of course raises his left arm, lifeguard Nick, says “dude your other right arm.” Rest of the Lits are on the ground laughing, Edis of course takes it all in good humor, but he is not a happy camper. They are then taught CPR, working on dummies, doing the breathing and doing the heart resuscitation, etc. They are then shown a 20 minute video of rescues, water safety, surfing etc. way cool. They also taught the signal for hang loose and are all saying “Kowabonga Dude,” have no clue how to translate this in Lit. but trust me with the accents, very funny. Each is given a San Clemente Lifeguards t-shirt, stickers etc. As said they went way over the top.
We head down the beach, Nick has wet suits for all, boogie boards and into the water they go. Expected Nick to be on the beach yelling instructions to them, but no, into the water he goes, helping them catch waves, talking them thru the right way to do it. He would give a Lit a push, they catch the wave ride it into shore, jump up throw their hands in the air, turn for the look of approval from Nick, he is beaming and giving the arms in the air congratulations, truly Nick is the new hero for these kids. The Lits are wearing the wet suits, but not Nick, after an hour the poor man comes out of the water just blue. Beach games, eating the lunches the host Mom’s packed, and then back in the water again. Finally at 2:30 PM. drag them out and head for the vans, convinced that all would have stayed in the 60 degree water until dark if we had let them.
Another high: San Clemente LL. This league is in it’s 55th year and has one of the great fields within the district. As said, 55 years old, on the top of a hill, ocean view, lights old time clubhouse, just a great place. The Lits are put into he first base dugout, so they will be the visiting team, the announcer is the play-by-play and public address announcer for Cal State Fullerton. Man was he good, got the names right, did it with gusto, brilliant. Red-yellow-green balloons on the Lit side, red-white-blue balloons on the home team side. Post game, a true Texas BBQ, pulled pork, chicken, beans not sure how to say delicious in Lit, but it was a tremendous meal. Kids talking to the home team during the meal about their baseball experiences etc, a true international coming together.
The Low: somehow I am sure it is my fault, the beach took it out of them, nothing they do is right defensively or batting, the lose to the Orioles 10-3. Orioles manager, again a class act, does all he can to make VN feel better about the game. If there is a highlight, Gerdes Palciukas pitched all six innings, only threw 79 pitches, but he was not helped by the team. Crab crawls the length of the field, deep knee squats, and push-ups after the game, not only did they not play well, but the attitude was very casual. Again, sure it is my fault.
Jeff, Bobby, Steve, Manny, yesterday Nomeda was taken out to buy a dress, yes a dress!!! Do not think any of us saw this coming, what happened to the little tomboy monkey that we all know and love. It is of course red, a variation of pink, but this is a day none of us expected.
