We've been having a very lacklustre summer so far - Monday we started to get into the swing of things with a day of sunshine, but today really was fantastic - temperatures in the 30s, sunshine, a comfortable breeze. My firm hosted a group of would-be baby lawyers from UBC for a bocce ball tournament at Jericho Beach, which was a great work-sanctioned excuse to a) enjoy the late afternoon and evening sunshine; and b) wear shorts to work (dressy shorts! I swear!).
Our "tournament" was overseen by Jason from Bocce.ca and his adorable little dog Tino, who trotted through the fields, refereeing (Tino and I had several cuddles. I wanted to steal him and take him home with me, although Currie would devour him alive). Jason gave us a quick explanation of the rules, including the creative additions of the Meathead Rule (if someone throws the jack way too far, you can call "meathead" and ask for a more reasonable re-throw), and the Alive Dog Rule (if a dog running through the field of play moves a ball, it stays where the dog plays it - tricky!).
We were divided into several four person teams, named after Italian cities: I was Captain and Grand Diva of Team Napoli (are you proud Edy?) and while we soared to an easy victory in Round 1, we were unfortunately defeated by Team Pisa in Round 2, but won the consolation round against Team Firenze, who, to be honest, seemed more interested in the post-game beers than their game.
I would say my skills lie more in leadership than in actual, um, playing. I had some brilliant shots, but I would not say I'm the most accurate bocce player, although I'm certainly enthusiastic. I loved trooping out with everyone to inspect the balls, argue about who was closer, who had next throw, who had managed to winkle another point by landing just a millimetre closer to the jack. Maybe I should just umpire?
Check out Jason's site - anyone want to join me for the 6th Annual Don Giuseppe Boccefather Tournment in September? It happens "rain, hail of rubber bullets, or shine." We have all summer to practice!