It has been raining every day for a number of weeks now. Not all day every day, but daily rain. I guess that is what I should expect from the "rainy season" and honestly it hasn't been too bad. Why? Because it just rains. In Dallas, the threat of rain also meant the threat of serious storms and tornadoes. It never just rained. So, needless to say it has almost been delightful. However, the rain stopped and since the forecast for the weekend was predicted to be hot and sunny I was determined to get us out of the house. Lawn Bowls has been on my Aussie bucket list, so a few phone calls later I had some families headed out for an afternoon of bowls.
So Lawn Bowls is like Bocce Ball where you roll balls, in this case unevenly weighted, towards a small ball called a "jack." The closest wins the point. Very simple instructions. Not very easy to play. Thanks to the weight on the one side of the ball it travels a curved path. Depending on the moment, its either challenging or extremely frustrating.
When you are a member of the club and play seriously, you look like the photo below. Note the uniforms, shoes, and proximity of ALL the balls near the jack.
When you come to play casually with family and friends it's called Barefoot Bowls and you look a bit different. Below, note the lack of uniform, shoes, and yes, sometimes we were all over the green. Beer may have been involved too and I'm guessing that wasn't the case across on the tournament green.
Notice the range of skill level.
Practice before the big game.
My turn to roll.
Lawn bowls is played on a level, evenly manicured lawn. Unfortunately, we didn't realize the care needed to keep the even greens and had not been told any rules of conduct. Thankfully, we had a bowls club member who would pop over to inform us of some of the rules when he saw them broken....no running, no standing on balls, no sitting in the gutter, no throwing the balls. Ah well, the kids had a great time anyway.
This was taken before we knew the rules.
We had separate lanes for the adults and kids. The kids played for most of our two hour time slot. Once they decided they were done it was off to bigger and better things like running through the trees and collecting enormous seed pods.
Ashleigh and Leah
The winning kids team included Anna, Ellis, and Paul.
The adult competition was ugly. It was the girls against the guys. We, the ladies, tried hard. We are just as competitive as the guys, but they were brutal. Isn't it typically considered unsportsmanlike to run up the score when there is absolutely no way of the opposing team getting close? Well, we may be lacking a bit in our rolling skills, but we are not shamed! However, we are now more motivated than ever to get a couple more points the next time around.
I do get to take the credit for the one point our team produced.
I think everyone found it more fun than expected. However, don't be surprised if you see us ladies out practicing during the day to gear up for the next event. Cheers!
