I’m late.
No, not “9-months” or “Oh my god,” late. I’m a busy guy. I apologize.
No, I’m talking about this post. As highlighted by Nate Saul’s CarpeDM and Emily Beck’s Dish on Des Moines postings, we had our first ever Des Moines Bocce Ball Social Club League last Tuesday at our home turf, Jasper Winery.
First and foremost, it was friggin’ hot. Inching over 100 degrees, all of us were baking like a toasted cheeser (see “Sandlot” for reference) and sweating harder than a BP exec at a town hall meeting (see “idiots” in the dictionary). However, that didn’t stop the dedicated 25 or so members from coming out and throwing the ol’ ball around. The flowing sweet sangria, tasty wine, and hand-crafted beer helped.
After a few competitive workshops put on by the Simpson Storm and Team Awesome, as well as the BocceBallas (aka me and the Brian Flynn), everyone began settling into the spirit of recreational ball tossing. For my part, I’d never played by “the rules,” or whatever people call them nowadays, but I got to say, it’s FUN. What I thought was an intimidating and complicated set of parameters turned out to be an easy-to-learn set of guidelines that provided for a highly addictive pastime.
Anyway, lovin’ life and living the dream, as we Club members often do, we continued the unique experiment of meeting and greeting, rolling and bowling until we couldn’t see where the ball was (because it was dark, not due to inebriation… Ok, maybe a little of both). Point being, we had a blast.
The first event was clearly a success. We learned a lot, like that we need more bocce courts, that bi-weekly gatherings would be perfect, and to not lose sight of the main goal: having fun and making friends. We’ll continue to listen as long as you continue to come. In the meantime, live life, live Des Moines, and “never forget your balls.”
P.S. Thanks to our resident photographer, Emilee Richardson for these amazing photos!
