I saw something late Saturday night that was so odd it gave me pause.

I saw someone bowling in my den. Moments earlier, I was also bowling in my den, but then I had to take the dog out for a quick break and happened to look back through the front door window, where I witnessed a friend in the classic release of a bowling ball stance – in our den.

My husband and I live in an old farmhouse that his grandmother bought in Kerrville. It was the first house built on that block in Kerrville. My husband’s mother was raised in this house after her mother was left a young widow during the Depression and her mother’s sister took them in. Many years later, after his grandmother died, my husband had the house moved here in the 1980s.

Over the years, the house has been added onto in variuos directions, but the original house lives on in the traditional front room, dining room and den, right in a row, format. So when you look through the front door window, you see in a straight line to the den at the back.

I wonder what the people who built this house would think if they looked through the window and saw someone bowling in the den? Of course, back then, that was not the den, it was the bedroom, but still – it’s quite odd looking.

I never thought I would see someone bowling in the den.

But in this day and age, I guess a lot is possible.

For Christmas, I got a Wii and as some of you know, there are games such as bowling, tennis and baseball that are really quite like the actual thing.

Our friend was celebrating his birthday Saturday night and wanted to come over and check out my new Wii.

My husband and I had not really played any of the games – it’s being used, sporadically I might add, for its fitness programs.

But after an enjoyable steak dinner, and some wine to break down the inhibitions, we got out the Wii and started bowling. We actually bowled several games.

Like I said, it’s pretty realistic.

The house still sits in the middle of a rural area with nothing around but trees – and at night, it’s quite dark. And when you are outside looking in, it’s easy to see since the front door is the original one, which is to say, it consists of a large pane of glass in the middle.

I guess this is the new reality – playing the games in our homes that we used to go out and play somewhere else.

It’s kind of sad, in a way.

Back when I was a child, we spent every waking moment outside. There really was not much to do inside, except read. Television was certainly not what it is today and I doubt my mother would have let us watch it anyway.

So we hung out outside and socialized, fell in and out of puppy love, played games, got hurt, got back up and that was life. Life was much more about learning about each other and ourselves.

As I got older, I picked other things to do for fun, including joining a bowling league. Once a week, we would gather at the bowling alley and play three games, which took about three hours.

There was a lot of fun going on, but we socialized, fell in and out of love, played games and continued learning about each other and ourselves.

How much will we, and our children, learn about each other and themselves, if they can bowl right in their own den?

I cannot answer that question, but I guess that as time progresses, our children, grandchildren and so on will figure out a way, because human interaction is necessary, if for no other reason than to continue the species. At least that has not been programmed into a game console, yet!

So, if you are ever wandering around at night and happen to glance into someone’s window and see someone in the classic bowling pose, you will know what’s up with that.

- Cyndi Wright, Editor, The Smithville Times