Country club.

There’s a country club near our house. I'm not sure why it's called a country club because our house is in the suburbs and so too is the club. Last week, Ben and I paid the annual fees and, in today's mail, received temporary-member cards. Only after some kind of board approval process will we be granted full membership. The club has many mostly-older members who enjoy a variety of pursuits. There’s a room full of flashy melodic poker machines but they’re of no interest to us. We’re also not interested in lawn bowls, indoor bowls, squash, tennis, golf or darts. They do have two pool tables and two snooker tables which is the reason why we joined. There’s a bistro and bar where full members get discounts on food and drinks. This afternoon we played our first pool games; sipped full-price lemon, lime and bitters; munched on free peanuts and heard for the very first time the raucous sound of a post-game gaggle of lawn bowlsers.