After an intensive round of googlizing and calling local retailers, I was able to locate a bocce set for sale today, and thus will spend this evening cooking and eating hot dogs, apple pie, and root beer floats to the soothing accompaniment of the klonk of lawn bowls. I was briefly introduced to this sport one blazing September afternoon over ten years ago in Bloomington, Indiana, at the pre-New orleans home of Bart and XY.

And may I say how am excited to see my old pal Kenneth Goldstein this week for an evening? Very well then: very. Sometimes the right friend just finds you.