Leisure Sports

Laughter erupted from a nearby tree as two kookaburras sat, presumably watching my feeble attempt to lawn bowl. Also observing our game, two greying, moustached men who sat drinking beers in the shade at the other end of the court. We were obviously on their turf.

The sun was searing as I hucked the ball down the cleanly shorn grass. Lawn Bowling is like Bocce Ball, except the balls are weighted on one side, so you're supposed to roll them with consideration that it will curve.

I sipped my cold glass of Lemon & Lime Bitters as Amy relayed to me that there's "no running allowed on the field." These Aussies really take it seriously that life be relaxed. No running in sports? I'd never heard of such a thing. "Do we get a tea break too?" I asked, in reference to the Cricket tradition of a tea interval in the second half. Hardly the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, eh guys? So, our leisurely game continued in an appropriately leisurely fashion.

Turns out I bowl better when aiming left of the jack (the white ball we're aiming for). This is backwards, the same way I'm a "goofy" snowboarder, and the same way I deal cards with my left hand, even though I'm actually right-handed. It may have looked odd, but at least the birds had stopped laughing.