$19.99 for
two hours of bowling,
including shoe rental for four people (which you know is the most expensive part), sounded like a sweet, cheap deal when The Groupon arrived in my junk email account this past September. three months to redeem this baby, no problem! lots of birthdays, holidays, and vacation days before the expiration date: Sunday, December 28th, at precisely 6:08pm.
which, naturally, explains why we finally redeemed it today.
December 28th.
it's fascinating the variety of techniques one observes others employ in order to hurl a ten+ pound ball down the alley. there's the invert and drop, the cup and roll, the lead-assist spin, the run and release. really, there are as many styles as there are bowlers.
i am an inconsistently wretched bowler. every now & again i knock down enough to keep my spirits up, but gutter balls and i are close friends. being an eternal optimist, i am okay with that.
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| here i am, envisioning a strike. |
when my timing is lucky, i can experience bowling zen with the exact steps to the line, the correct foot forward, and the just-right swing back-and-forth to release the ball as lithe as a ballerina (which, i realize, slightly confuses my meditation metaphor). at least that's how it feels, and i am (right then) convinced i appear completely at-one with the bowling ball, a gazelle among hippos. until, THUNK!, the ball lands gracelessly about two feet in front of me. which is when i, also, employ the tried-and-true method of correcting a bowling ball's shocking curve off center and towards the gutter by quickly and decisively shifting all my weight to the opposite leg, arms stretched wide as if i am precariously balanced on a narrow beam, reaching with great conviction to, through sheer force of will, pull the bowling ball away from its destiny. which, as it turns out, was the gutter after all.
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| a rare look at perfection - my inner gazelle emerges. |
after about the fifth gutter ball,
i did get just a little bit discouraged.
but, then, i got one!
really, i could spend all my time at the ball return
just watching the balls appear (at last!)
after their long journey from the pins.
and playing with the air that blows in your face
every time you reach down to pick up your ball.
it's like magic.
maybe i should unsubscribe from Groupon.
