Let's talk bowling...or what I consider to be REAL bowling

So when I moved to Moncton over 6 years ago, from Kingston, Ontario, my husband and I searched for social activities, or some type of outing we could do together as an evening out.   Before we had children, we used to be registered in a bowling league.(don't laugh...It's true!)  Every Friday night, we'd get our stuff together.....we had our own balls, shoes and wrist guards.....and off we went ....The bowling alley would pack for league night....and afterwards, the University students would come out for Glo-Bowling.  They would shut off the lights, hit the black lights, and disco bowl, crank up the tunes, and  Voila....Glo-bowling!

Now before I go any further, I need to clarify, that just because I had all of the equipment, that doesn't mean I was a great bowler or anything...It was all for show...I didn't have the greatest average or anything..I think it was around 133 or something like that....which isn't that great...

The bowling we took part in, was 10 pin bowling......You know, the kind with 10 pins, and a LARGE ball, that you put you fingers in the holes?

That's a picture of a couple of our balls....We had them sized for our fingers, and made sure they were the proper weight......

So, that is how we spent some of our spare time in Kingston when we lived there....

Okay, so this brings me to when we moved here to Moncton......I pulled out to Yellow pages(yes, believe it or not, some people still DO use the phonebook to look up numbers!  I am one of them!), I flipped through the pages looking for bowling and called up the alley to see what they had in the way of leagues....

This is just one of a few in our region.....So I asked the man on the other end of the line..."Do you have 10 pin bowling?   He responded, "Yes..It is 10 pin bowling."  I asked, "With the big balls or the little ones?"  He said, "Huh?"  I asked him, "Do you use the big ball or the small ones?"  He said, "Big bowling balls?  Oh no, we have candlepin.  There aren't any 10 pin lanes left in these parts that use the big balls.   They all closed years ago."

I don't get it.   I'm not a fan of candlepin, with the small balls like they use in 5 pin bowling...Perhaps I've just grown accustomed to the larger balls, not sure.....But I have tried a little candlepin since I moved here, and I just don't love int like I did the league bowling I did in Ontario.   How come the 10 pin lanes all closed up here, whereas they are still popular in many parts in Ontario?

Now, for those of you who are now saying, "What the heck is candlepin?"  I've borrowed a picture from Wikipedia just so you'll understand a little bit better...

The pins are taller and skinnier...The ball is small and comparable to a 5 pin bowling ball.

 In 10 pin bowling, the balls are much bigger(as the ones I showed in the picture earlier) and the pins are different as well. 

Now before you say, 10 pin bowling with a large ball must be so much easier....it isn't really....it's all in the way you throw the ball....and in 10 pin you only get 2 balls per frame as compared to candlepin, which you get 3....Also in 10 pin, you clear the pins that are knocked down in between each throw.....In candlepin, those pins remain, and the lane isn't cleared until the end of the frame..

After living here a few years, I found out that there is a 10 pin bowling lane(with the big balls) in Shediac....but I don't think I like the sport that much to drive to Shediac to play in a league once a week....
There apparently used to be a 10 pin bowling alley just up the street from where we live....But it's now a Home Hardware.....

Just another way that Ontario and New Brunswick are different I guess....I don't know of too many candlepin alleys in Ontario...Perhaps they have them, but just not in the cities that I had lived in?...I think it's  popular sport in Quebec....or maybe that is duckpin?  Not sure...

So, what to do with 4 large bowling balls, that we don't have much use for?  Again, not sure....At this point they're still packed away in our storage room(we pulled them out just for a photo on  my blog)  Someone told me once that some people are using them for garden ornaments now.....Huh?    I had to google it......

Believe it or not, it's true!  I've found an article on bowling ball art!  http://gardenblog.projo.com/2008/04/bowling-ball-ga.html

I never would've thought!    Those bowling balls have been transformed into......ladybugs!     AH HA!  A project for the spring!  Who knew!  I love it!