Up and Coming

       The Up and Coming younger bowlers yesterday:  Alex, Steven, Jonathan, and Matt (Cousin David is usually present, but he had other things going on this year). 

      The Gerths love their bowling.  A lot of it stems from being originally from St. Louis where I think it is required that each and every resident knows how to bowl.  I did not grow up this way, so it is sort of lost on me, but my sons are both big into bowling.  From the time kids are old enough to hold a bowling ball, in the Gerth family, they bowl.   

        Thanksgiving weekend is a big weekend for bowling when everyone is together.  (Mark's brothers Brian and Phil at right.)  Each Friday after Thanksgiving at 4:00 the lanes in Elwood are home to various Gerths bowling three games before heading to Grandma and Grandpa's for a lasagna dinner.  Are they of Italian descent?  Nope...I have no idea why they have lasagna each year, but it has always been part of the tradition. 

      The bowling is as much of a tradition as the turkey dinner on Thursday.   I think a lot of it is that Mark's family is made up of six children, all very close in age, who grew up doing a lot together and still enjoy getting together and doing things together.  Bowling is a good thing to do with siblings as you have time to chat while you bowl, etc.  You might think the photo at the left is Brian and Al (another brother) engaging in some deep and thoughtful conversation over a couple of beers, but looks can be deceiving as they are actually advising Phil (in the background at the jukebox) on tunes while at the same time entertaining us all with their rendition of the Flintstone's bowling song.    

      The next photo is of Matt trying to do his best to ignore Brian's High Five after his seventh strike that game.  After awhile it just becomes discouraging to bowl against Brian...we have been trying to talk Brian into actually joining the bowling circuit as the guy is an amazing bowler, but apparently being a pharmacist and a bowler don't mix all that well.    

       And, because the Gerths don't mess with tradition, even if the Purdue game is on at the same time as the scheduled bowling outing, there is a way to combine the two. 

      This is a divided house, Al and Susan being Purdue fans as they both attended and work at Purdue, and the rest of us all Indiana fans.  Nevertheless, when the two teams aren't playing each other, SOME members of the family can work up a certain amount of enthusiasm to cheer on the black and gold.  OTHERS just tune in to enjoy watching Purdue getting beaten by their current opponent.  I am not saying which members are which, to protect the innocent and harbor the guilty, but there was both cheering and grieving when Purdue went down in overtime to Oklahoma.  It did not, however, affect the camaraderie over the dinner table, which is always a good thing.  

      Round two of the bowling continues today when the traditional Saturday's outings include "going to a movie, bowling, and to dinner."