I used to bowl in a league. Most of the other bowlers were members of a Mardi Gras krewe. They didn't have enough bowlers in their krewe so they invited me to be a member (of the league, not the krewe.) It was pretty embarrassing, really. It was back in the seventies and my memories aren't as vivid as they once were, but I think I remember that my average was in the nineties when I joined and about 120 by the time I left the league. I've never been much of an athlete and was already dealing with a pinched nerve in my spine, but the other teams members were pretty supportive & I don't think they laughed about me behind my back. I was always very self-conscious when with them, though, and finally got the nerve to bow out at the end of year two. They didn't beg me to stay.

The bowling I did enjoy was midnight bowling with family and friends. The price was ridiculously cheap, so we'd fill a couple of cars with folks and head on down to the Bowling Lane. The staff was lax about rules for the scanty midnight crowds, so we'd crank the jukebox way up and dance between our turns at the pins. I had won a personalized bowling ball in a drawing and had my own shoes. The blue ball and shoes were carried in a blue bag. I always wore jeans and either a blue or black top when I bowled. I wasn't a good bowler then, either, but at least I looked hot and was with friends who didn't make me nervous.

I loved everything about that experience: the music competing with the sound of balls rolling down the lane and pins flying, the smell of the oiled-wood lanes and sweaty shoes and, mostly, the comraderie of a group of folks who knew each other well and were having a grand old time.

I was disappointed to find out recently that the lanes are no longer real wood. The synthetics used now are supposed to be better for ball control, but I'm pretty sure I would miss that old oiled wood and the sound of a ball thunking down on the wood lanes if I were ever to take up the sport again. I thougth bowling in the seventies was a wonderful passtime. I think I would feel that something was missing if I were to walk into a bowling alley these days. Some things should stay the same, don't you think, for the sake of tradition and nostalgia?

It's unlikely I'll ever bowl again anyway, what with the effects of aging on a back that was damaged in my youth, but still I'm glad that encyclocentral.com sponsored this post so I could drag our some more memories to share.

Labels: bowling, friends, memories, payperpost