19 May, 2016
Guess who tried lawn bowling for the first time?
Posted by andrea tomkins in: - Westboro|Misc. life|Ottawa
We live within easy walking distance of the Highland Park Lawn Bowling Club. My Westie readers probably know this place already. It’s been around for quite a while. (Ottawa history buffs can read more about the club here.)
Every year the club members host an open house and every year we manage to miss it. Well, I was determined that THIS WAS THE YEAR we’d finally make it. It almost didn’t happen, but we made it happen. Mark and I, along with a friend, dropped by on Tuesday evening to see what it was all about. We were not to be disappointed.
We walked over together, registered, signed liability forms, and were measured (!) for a set of boules. (They do this by measuring your grip from your thumb to the end of your middle finger.)
At first, we were the youngest people on the green, but that quickly changed as more people arrived.
We were matched up with a member-instructor who took us through the basics of the game. It’s a lot like curling, but given that it all takes place in an outdoor setting it strikes me a lot more pleasant. The sun was setting as we played, it cast long shadows over our group and bathed everything in a golden light. It sounds corny, but it was all kind of magical. When’s the last time I played outside with friends? I couldn’t even remember.
There was much laughter and camaraderie between the players and I was starting to remember what a lovely thing it is to be outdoors, sharing a gently competitive activity with a group of people.
Surprise surprise, I was actually not too shabby at lawn bowling. I managed to lob a few good ones that went the distance and ended up in (roughly) the right spot. I was told I had a pretty good arm “for a lady” which made me laugh. (You can watch a short video Mark took of me on my Instagram account.)
I am looking forward to trying it again. We actually have appointments for a free coaching lesson next week. I am happy we finally got around to trying it out. It was different than I had expected and a lot more fun. This fits nicely within my “living is doing” mantra. It doesn’t hurt there’s a pub across the street either. So if you see us at the Clocktower more often, that’s why. :)
