When I came for a visit, test out this whole moving countries-giving-up-everything-familiar thing, I was introduced to Bocce Ball, in an office setting. One side had been turned into a Bocce Ball court of sorts. Having never played before, I gave it a try. Takes some practice.
Yesterday evening, after work, and office mate invited me out to play Bocce Ball. At a park.
Gorgeous day yesterday.
I’ve learned to take advantage of such days so I went.
Now, in an office, your limited by walls and desks, mostly. Once you learn the subtle spots in the carpet, you can use them to your advantage or avoid them all together. For some reason, I didn’t think playing outside would be much different.
That perception was quickly dispelled.
Playing outside, in a park, is hard.
Slopes. Divets. Benches. Rocks. Bushes. Trees. Picnic tables. And we weren’t even playing by the playground equipment!
Wait. Hang on. Let me back up a step and explain Bocce Ball.
There are eight balls, and in this set, four are red and four are black. They are a little bigger than a softball, and heavier. Then there is a small white ball. You throw the white one out somewhere, and then try to get your Bocce Balls closer to it then your opponents. Most you can get at a time is four, and we were playing to seven.
Relatively simple concept. Simple game. If it touched concrete, it was out of bounds. Simple enough. Except picnic tables were surrounded by concrete.
The fun comes in where you, or your opponent, decide to throw the white ball.
I discovered that if the white ball is thrown over bushes, say, and hard to see, odds are good you have to throw your set over the bushes, too.
Did I mention the balls are heavy?
Let’s just say my wrist was I’ll prepared for throwing the balls over things, or throwing them a good distance. Rolling didn’t always work as there were lots of divers that turned an otherwise good roll into a horrible one.
I won the first game, and then lost the rest. One was close. I lost by only a point. My wrist was killing me.
It was fun. The park was nice. Near the airport so you can see planes coming into YVR. Mostly Air Canada (which I still mistakenly call Canadian Air, like American Airlines), couple Korean Air, a number of puddle jumper regional keys, one United and one American.
Excellent way to spend a wonderful evening in Vancouver.