What: Bocce Balls
Where: Fremont Sunday Market
Level of Love: 8 out of 10
I love these bocce balls for two reasons. One. Bocce ball is flippin' awesome. Two. They're just like my Mom and Dad's set that I grew up playing with. Nay, that I learned the art that is bocce ball with. The only reason I gave them an 8 is because the set is missing the small ball needed for play. I've since thrifted a croquet ball to use, but it would be nice to have the full set.
I have been secretly (okay, not so secretly...) hoping Mom will give me the set of my childhood someday. Which, she probably will, because she's cool like that. But, until then, I wasn't adverse to buying my own set as long as they were just like the one's Mom has. Because a girl's first bocce love is her bocce love for life. So, I kept my eye out for an awesome vintage set whenever we were out and about at such places. One Sunday, this set jumped out at me among the tables at the Fremont Sunday Market (it's a bit of a flee market, craft fair, food fair type of thing). There they were! It's the sort of place where there generally aren't prices on things, so I tentatively asked how much they were and joy of joys the price was right! The booth owner also proceeded to ask me what they were(!) and I gleefully explained the art of bocce to him. Apparently he had gotten them at an estate sale and hadn't the faintest idea what they were.
I feel it is at this point that I must confess I might not actually know the art of bocce. You see, I know the sort of bocce we used to play in my backyard. Which, now that I am grown, I admit is probably not the official way to play bocce. But it sure was a heck of a lot of fun. Here's what we'd do. Me. Mom. Dad. Each of us has two bocce big balls each. Mom always had yellow of course, Dad always had green, and I can't remember what color I'd always pick. I think I waffled between blue and red. There was one smaller blue ball between us. We'd all stand in one spot of the lawn and someone would get to throw the little blue ball. You could throw the little ball wherever you wanted in the direction of your choosing. When throwing this ball, the goal of our family was to toss it in a really, really difficult spot. Like, in the woods to the side of the lawn, or down the hill that slopped toward the lake, or just really far away. It was preferable if no one could see the little blue ball once it had been thrown. There was more mystery that way. Then, we all got to take turns throwing the big balls toward the general direction of the small ball, with the aim of having one of your big balls be the closest to the little ball. Even better would be actually hitting the little ball. You got one point for being the closest and two points for actually hitting it, regardless of if you ended up being the closest or not. Whoever was closest also got to be the one to throw the little ball next. We picked the number of points we wanted to play to, usually depending on how much daylight we had left. There are so many good memories tied up with playing bocce ball in our backyard. If you've ever been to my childhood home, you'll know that it's on a hill of sorts and the yard is divided into three levels with some pretty substantial slopes in between. At the top level is our front yard and driveway, and the bottom level ends at the lake. We had so much fun rolling the bocce balls down those hills! I remember more than a few times when we were worried we'd lost our bocce balls forever into the lake or among the leaves that covered the slopes between each level. It was common for us to work our way down the levels...then have to work our way back up! This created a situation where we would hurl our big bocce balls as hard as we could up the steep hill only to have them come rolling down to our feet.
So, there you have it. My bocce ball story. I'd love to hear if anyone else has any bocce knowledge or memories to share! Do you play like my family plays? Or are there actual rules to follow? These little bocces just got their first play of the year yesterday when we had our first 60 degree day in Seattle!
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