One highlight of 2005 for me was playing bocce in
Schenectady’s Central Park with fellow haijin Yu Chang
and John Stevenson. As we contemplate our first
night with temperatures around zero, I’m afraid it might
be quite a while before we have another game of outdoor
bocce (see Giacalone Family Informal Bocce Rules.)
That’s too bad, because the addition of our neighbor
Hilary Tann to the f/k/a Honored Guest roll means
she will be expected to join us in 2006, which will allow
us to play the even more enjoyable and traditional two-team
version of bocce.
“bocceBallsG”
But, maybe we needn’t wait until Spring. I’ve been joking
with John and Yu about getting together for Snow Bocce, and that
phrase turned up on my Keyword Activity list yesterday. Back-
tracking on the links, I discovered that the Colebrook [NH] Kiwanis
Club has “added an extremely popular event; the Peter Goudreau
Sr. Memorial snow bocce tournament,” with this year’s event
to be held on February 11th.
The lawyer in me, naturally, wonders whether there are any
special rules for Snow Bocce. So far, here’s the only version
I’ve been able to find on the internet:
Snow bocce is played on freshly fallen snow; it needs “snowflakeS”
to be the kind of snow that is good for snowballs and
snowmen. It follows all the usual rules (see, for instance,
wikipedia: bocce) except that the pallino and balls are all
made out of snow. As a result, the balls change size over
the course of the game. Rolling across fresh snow, they
can get larger. If they are thrown too far, they may fragment
into multiple pieces. In that case, count the largest fragment
for the purposes of scoring. The other fragments may be left
where they fall.
To be honest, bocce balls made of snow would seem to be a
novelty that would quickly become tiresome and unwieldy. If
any f/k/a visitors have other versions of Snow Bocce rules, or just
tips for playing lawn bocce on snow, please use the Comment
link or email to let us know.
backyard bocce –
tonight we’re
the noisy neighbors
update (Jan. 16, 2006): See snow bocce update for details of the
first New York Capital Region Haijin Snow Bocce Festa.
Meanwhile, Hilary, Yu and John have some fine haiku for
us, all from The Heron’s Nest:
invisible fence
. . .
no sign of the dog
weekday morning
gulls gather
round the ice-fishing hole
Hilary Tann – The Heron’s Nest
“weekday morning” (June 2003); “invisible fence” (Aug. 2003)
pull of the moon
I am not myself
tonight
fallen sycamore —
the chess players move
to another tree
yu chang – The Heron’s Nest
“fallen sycamore” & “pull of the moon” (Dec. 2005)
end of summer
coming home
with the current and the tide
sparrows sift through
the shopping carts
autumn dusk
John Stevenson – The Heron’s Nest
“end of summer” & “sparrows sift through” (Dec. 2005)
potluck
“snowflakeS” “snowflakeS” I want to add my reaction of outrage over the attempt by
Missouri lawyer Susan H. Mello to turn an ambiguous contingency fee
contract in an employment discrimination case into an extraordinarily
excessive fee. As the Missouri appellate court put it “if it was Mello’s
intent to have her client surrender 35 to 45% of all future earnings until
the welcome hand of death freed her from this servitude, the contract
needed to say as much.” (via George’s Employment Blog and Overlawyered)
david,
snow bocce’s fine, but perhaps you, yu ,and
john should try curling. it really is similar
to bocce/ to shuffleboard / though requiring
more skill to control the 40 pound curling
stones. here in michigan, in addition to local curling clubs, we can watch the canadian professionals on cbc tv out of our sister city windsor, ontario. i’m sure there
are curling clubs in the northeast / winter dusk / the slow glide / of a curling stone
Comment by ed markowski — December 13, 2005 @ 8:28 pm
david,
snow bocce’s fine, but perhaps you, yu ,and
john should try curling. it really is similar
to bocce/ to shuffleboard / though requiring
more skill to control the 40 pound curling
stones. here in michigan, in addition to local curling clubs, we can watch the canadian professionals on cbc tv out of our sister city windsor, ontario. i’m sure there
are curling clubs in the northeast / winter dusk / the slow glide / of a curling stone
Comment by ed markowski — December 13, 2005 @ 8:28 pm
Edward, Are they serving spiked egg nog already at your office? The last thing on earth I’m looking for is an activity that takes athletic skill, stamina and strength, and takes place out in the cold. However, if I find a local CFSCS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Curling Society), I’ll definitely check it out.
Comment by David Giacalone — December 13, 2005 @ 9:00 pm
Edward, Are they serving spiked egg nog already at your office? The last thing on earth I’m looking for is an activity that takes athletic skill, stamina and strength, and takes place out in the cold. However, if I find a local CFSCS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Curling Society), I’ll definitely check it out.
Comment by David Giacalone — December 13, 2005 @ 9:00 pm