Safe haven
Montreal, QC, August 2010
About this photo: We're sharing sepia-toned pictures as part of this week's Thematic. Go here to share yours, or here to learn how the whole thing works. Or just read on if you're in the mood to be amused.You don't see public lockers too often these days. Security concerns - thanks, Osama - have prompted places like airports and shopping malls to pull them out. Which means we're rapidly running out of places to store the burgeoning piles of stuff we inevitably accumulate when we're out and about.
Bowling alleys are, somewhat interestingly, exempt from this trend. I'm thinking the average cave-dwelling terrorist doesn't curse the Brunswick name at least once every waking moment, and hasn't identified these temples of childhood and post-retiree recreation as worthwhile targets of misplaced, hatred-driven opportunity.
Which is just as well, because places like this are interesting throwbacks to a simpler time*, and I'd hate to think of a world without strikes, spares, gutter balls and really cheesy-looking shirts. It strangely brings me comfort to know bowling alleys continue to survive and thrive.
Your turn: It's easy to dismiss bowling as a ridiculously stupid pastime. Throw a ball down a lane; knock down some pins; repeat. But I suspect there's more to it than that. What's its appeal, then?
One more thing: Why 42? I didn't even realize its significance until I composed the shot. Once I did, I had a good laugh. Which made total strangers look up and furrow their brows in my general direction. I hope fans of the late Douglas Adams enjoy the numeric reference.
--
* Disclosure: My mother dragged my very young self to her bowling league at a place in Chomedey known, then as now, as the Recreatheque. To this day, walking into any bowling alley ignites memories of sitting on the creaky, two-toned plastic seats while the ladies clucked around me in between frames. I took this picture, as an adult, as my wife and kids watched my now-retired mother bowl with her league. It was a good day, and definitely a circle of life-type moment.
