Bowling Blues


 

I took Henry bowling yesterday.  He’s been a few times while I haven’t bowled in likely 25 years.  You may be thinking I’m building up a defense on how my 11-year-old grandson beat me in all three games, and you’d be right.  It’s particularly galling since I’d bragged to him about consistently beating my mother who bowled on a league team for decades.  

Back in the 1940s era there was a bowling alley in the Wendling/Marcola area, a popular activity which provided a little pin money (ha) to my MIL who’d work as a pin setter whenever she could.  Before the advent of electronic pin resets, bowling was more labor intensive as each pin was hand set.  Pin setters waited at the end of each lane for the first ball then they rushed to hand remove any fallen pins.  After the second ball all pins were reset for the next bowler.  Repeat until the game was over.    

Now lanes boast digital scoreboards and offer gutter bumpers for the inexperienced, and yes - we used bumpers in game 3…. Beyond that bowling alleys haven’t changed much except for smelling better since smoking was banned, but that’s a low bar.  The essence of sweat and shoe spray, spilt beer and grilling burgers hovers in the air.

My skill level has declined over the intervening years.  The unaccustomed amplitude of my hip, (well, since I’d last bowled,) kept fouling my release and I rarely downed the #1 pin, central to any decent score.  Henry was marginally better.  His style was the force method:  If you exert enough force something might give.  

On the 3rd game we opted for gutter bumpers which did not significantly impact my score.  However, Henry banked the ball off the bumpers like it was a pool ball and scored a couple spares.    


All said, Henry scored his personal best:  105

Me?  Never broke 100.  I never claimed to be an athlete, except maybe to Henry.


Helene chortles in my ear.







Comments

Stephanie said…
Testing comments
Sat Jan 10, 12:52:00 PM
She's Been To The Rodeo said…
Very clever writing, cuz. Mr. Henry is pretty cool, too!
Sat Jan 10, 08:24:00 PM
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