We Must Be Nuts

O.K., I guess I've had a bit of writers' block for the past few days. I was lacking inspiration for a post and then...I was folding laundry and saw the Peanut Farm t-shirt we acquired this past weekend. I suddenly had all the inspiration I needed!

A few posts ago I eluded to an event here in town called the Fur Rondezvous. According to some propoganda that came in the mail, it's basically a two week long winter festival here in town, but it has a colorful past. "Back in the 30's a man named Vern Johnson and some friends decided to establish a three-day Festival to coincide with the time that the miners and trappers came to town with their winter's yield. It began as a three-day sports tournament in 1935. Nearly the entire population of Anchorage turned out for the bonfire and torchlight parade."

Now a days, according to the same propoganda, "some people might think that Rondy is there to give Alaskans something to do so that we don't shoot holes in the cabin wall before we see grass again. This may have been close to the truth early in the history of the festival, but helped by some introspection, we have regained our vision of a greater calling. GAI (whoever they are) recognizes that Rondy is (and should be) an instrument for change in the community through the spirit of giving."

I'm not so sure I believe that last part about "change in the community throught the spirit of giving." I guess if by "giving" they mean by me giving my money to the Anchorage economy I can create change, then I suppose they're right. According to what I saw this weekend, for the most part, Rondy just seemed like a big tourist trap. Street vendors were selling grilled hot dogs to the tune of $5.00 a piece, many of the activities cost money, like the makeshift carnival with unsteady barfy rides, and you have to pay to park all over town. It was our first Fur Rondy though, so I was compelled to see what all of the hype was about.

We ended up at a local restaurant/sports bar for lunch, called The Peanut Farm. Out in the property behind the restaurant, I paid $7.00/person for us to participate in, drum roll please......ICE BOWLING! It was acutally a pretty good deal because with that $7.00 came a free kids meal at the restaurant, an adorable t-shirt (logo pictured above), and the opportunity to ice bowl.

In a nutshell (pun intended), there was a big icy, slippery, and frozen patch that was used as the alley. Lanes were marked using flourescent spray paint. Behind and to the sides of the pins were bails of hay to stop the ball at the end of the lane. We used real pins and the setters were a bunch of high school kids. We used the raunchiest, most beat up bowling balls in town and we bowled 'til our hearts were content (or at least until the kids hand froze and they thought their arms were going to fall off). The kids didn't last too long, because the people running the show didn't take into account the fact that little kids might need a ball a little lighter than 12 lbs. The boys did have a good time though, and it was an experience that most people can't say they've had.

As the saying goes, "When in Rome......"