Working on a “Pro bono” fun project these days for the Basketball league I am playing in.
General Tsos Basketball Association. By far the most organized league in Indy! It been lots of fun so far and I am glad I am able to help out by providing the league with its own official website.
It is hard to explain the devastation and mess a forest fire leaves behind in a place where everyone is so used to having rain in the summer and seeing green everywhere…We take it for granted…
Samos is one of the most beautiful islands but years of summer wild fires have turned beautiful mountains of pine forests, and olive trees into ashes…
It has been ten years since a fire burned out of control for 7+ days on my home island burning land that I grew up on… I was here knowing the fire was burning our land and threatening our home…There was nothing I could do other than pray for the safety of my family. After that everything had changed. My childhood memories of green were now just memories. The once green mountains where now black and gray waiting for the winter rain to wash everything to the sea leaving nothing.
The once untouchable and fire-free part of the island…the heart of the island was gone. One-hundred-year-old olive trees, thirty foot pine trees all gone not to be seen again in our lifetime.
Every year… the same thing… Why? I ask myself again and again… Why?
Since 2000 the island had not made many headline and that was a good thing considering nearly ¾ of the island was burned so what was left to burn?
Ten years later Samos has made the headlines again..
“Large fire rages on Samos island”
“State of Emergency Declared for Fire-struck Samos Island”
Arsonists? Arrogant careless people? Why?
Why destroy what is left of this beautiful place? I ask my self again…Why?
In a span of 10 days arsonists have managed to burn sections of the island that had not been burned before… sections that had survived all the other great fires.
And then with the help of high winds the fire moved and managed to burn areas that were still recovering from the previous destruction…Small trees just now popping up after ten years gone…Not a chance…
And now what is next? Who takes advantage of buying the now cheap land and get away with it? The same story over and over again…
One of my most favorite times of the year. College basketball at its best. With Purdue and Butler both making great runs in the tournament it has made this year’s even more special. But basketball to me is not just sitting on the couch and watching… I love to play.
This past Tuesday my basketball team competing in a men’s league at the Indiana Basketball Academy completed an undefeated season (10-0) and a first place finish in the tournament. The team has managed an overall record of 20-1 in competition since October 2009. What a great run.
Looking forward to next year.
Is Christmas really almost here? Is 2009 almost over? Is this decade over?
Wow..
It really has been a great year for me what can I say. I wish I could say the same for this economy.
Anyways…
Angela has been working on a few more photo albums and she is doing a great job! I had a couple Logo development projects But really staying busy at the full time job.
Looking forward to some vacation time during the holidays.
--Basilios
The day? December 25, 2005.
The time? 12:00am to 2:00am.
The place? Ioannina, on the Northern board of Greece near Albania.
I am guarding on Christmas Eve. It is snowing lightly. Temperature is at -7 Celsius (about 19 degrees Fahrenheit). It is very quiet. The only thing you hear is the wind and the cows from beyond the fence moving around. I am moving back and forth trying to stay warm. I have to keep my eyes open for any unexpected midnight raid. I always thought it was funny that we ended up guarding for our superiors raiding from within the base rather than looking out for a raid from the other side of the fence.
At 1:00am I heard a noise near the fence. I stayed quiet to try to see or hear what or who it was. Just when I was about to yell “Halt” I see it….
It was the mad cow. For no particular reason the cow decided that on this time and on my watch it was going to raid and cross the barb wired fence…
“You got to be kidding me” I yelled at the other guard who was about 400 yards east of me on the other corner of the base. We started walking towards the cow but the cow wanted no part of it and started running away on the dirt road now inside the base.
It was time to make the call. We are supposed to report anything that happens before we even make a move… I went to the booth and called it in. I thought to my self… this should be fun.
I called the front office. A captain was on overnight duty that night and he was not a happy camper. Who would be? It was Christmas Eve.
I explained to the private on the phone the situation. Of course he thought it was a prank and refused to wake the captain. I called again and this time I was more convincing.
Captain on the phone now… I say: “Captain this is private Dimitrelias Basilios, NW corner guard number two. We have a situation. A mad cow has crossed the fence!”
Captain: "What do you mean a cow crossed the fence?"
“Sir… one of the cows outside the base has crossed over to our side and it refuses to go back.”
The captain paused for a couple seconds then used language that I am not going to repeat even though it was in Greek and then hung up the phone.
Ten minutes later the captain's jeep is coming up the road. I was a little worried of the captain's response, but I must admit I did giggle a little too as the cow started looking straight at the jeep lights. I was picturing the captain’s face when he saw the large beast in the middle of the road and realizing….”Holy Cow!...he was serious?”
They pulled up and unlocked the gate and then with the jeep blocking the one side of the road and me walking and yelling at the cow on the other side the cow had no other choice than to exit the base peacefully (later the next day it was reported that the cow did leave us a nice pile of souvenirs...)
The captain did not say a word. The jeep backed up and headed back.
The adrenaline was pumping and I was not cold anymore. My replacement was only 10 minutes away now and I knew that I would never forget this Christmas Eve… My Christmas in the Army.
The story of the cow had spread quickly the next morning and was the joke that would last for many years. Anytime a new guard is sent up to the NW corner of the base his sergeant would have one thing to say to him…
“Keep your eyes open for mad cows now newbie”
