Bowling

On my mini vacation we went bowling and it did remind me of my father believe it or not.  As a youth I participated in bowling often.  In Virginia we had this type of bowling called duck pin bowling which I liked because the pins were tiny and the balls fit in you hands with no holes in them, they were more the size of croquet balls that you rolled down the lane.  Same rules just different sizes, I was fairly small so I liked that the best. 

When I was a young adult I participated in the high school bowling league in Houston, Texas.  I was really small then and wasn't too strong.  Before I joined the league I threw a six pound ball and was very good, I didn't know there were rules about ball size requirements.  My parents bought me my own ball, a beautiful purple one but it had to be eight pounds, the minimal requirements for league play.  It was hard for me to make the adjustment, to throw those two extra pounds.  I practiced all summer long but just couldn't get up the strength to get that ball down the lane with any force.

My father began to laugh at me and tease me because when I threw my ball it would roll down the lane so slowly that you could hear the ball trip over the finger holes and you could see it bump over them as well.  It took forever for my ball to get down the lane.  When my ball would hit the pins they would sort of just lay down, I never got much pin action because I couldn't get much strength behind it.  I did pretty well, my game had to be about placing my ball exactly because there was not going to be any pin action.  My father however being 6' 4" and a large muscular man carried a 16 pound ball.  I think when the pins saw that it was my fathers turn to bowl they scattered before the ball got to them out of fear of being hit.  I do recall that the bowling lane owners dreaded my father coming in because when he bowled he split pins.  I don't mean he had pins on either side of the lane I mean me hit them so hard he broke them to pieces on occasions.  Try as he might he couldn't bowl light, just as I couldn't bowl hard.  One lane owner decided that if my father threw a lighter ball it would help, so he bored larger holes in a lighter ball (my father had large hands) my dad was all excited, he lined up to throw the ball down the lane, did his walk through, let go of the ball and it went straight up into the ceiling, it was like a baseball, too light to stick on the lane. 

Rob and I had a wonderful time bowling.  Rob is a good bowler, I just have fun.  My average was a 97, now there is something to brag about!