This is my version of running and mountain climbing
December 29th's Favorite Thing - Bowling
How fitting that I managed to make bowling today's favorite thing... it was on this date, 25 years ago that I rolled my first 300 game as a 17-year old who really didn't know what he was doing.
I was bowling in the junior travelling league, which is a scratch league for the better junior bowlers in the city. That day, we were bowling at (then) Red Carpet Lanes in West Allis - Lanes 33 and 34, not that I noticed those details - and bowled the 300 in the first game. I did not get a 700 series that day (it would take me over another year to reach that milestone) but was one of only two junior bowlers to bowl a 300 game in that season.
At that time, when an honor score was rolled, a member of the local association would "inspect" the lanes for oiling compliance, and unfortunately, the lanes did not comply and the American Bowling Congress did not and still does not recognize that accomplishment. Screw them, says I, as I was the one who had bruises on my knees from shaking them against each other in the 10th frame that day.
But despite that setback, I have a total of 16 - 300 games, and 9 or 10 - 800 series. As noted on a prior blog, bowling has allowed me to travel the country and has made me a bevy of friends. Although my skills have slid a touch as I get older, my average is still around 220 in league. I can still have a good series now and again. But what I lose in physical skill, I make up for in experience, as my tournament average has steadily risen in the last five years.
Sure, I wish that I had a more physically taxing hobby (like tennis... I could see myself really enjoying that sport) but I've got bowling, and I'm not giving it away.
Now, if only My-Sugar-Na would feel the same.
On the First Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Baseball's Hot Stove League
On the Second Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - A handful of chopped pecans
On the Third Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Memories of my past
On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Jim Steinman lyrics
On the Fifth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Christmas tree smell
On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Watching forbidden football
On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - The airplane taking off
On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Trying new restaurants
On the Ninth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Ten pins in the pit
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