Out, About: An unexpected way to battle this heat

This is an excerpt from the NashVillager newsletter, your human-powered daily guide to Nashville. Click here to subscribe.

Curling — yes, the one you take an odd fascination with every Winter Olympics before forgetting about its existence for four years — is right here in West Nashville.

It’d been on our group’s list since last winter, but we decided to finally go to Tee Line Nashville on a day that reached 96 degrees out. But inside, we were taking lessons in how to throw a stone (one of those 44-pound giant pucks with handles) and how and where to sweep (and when not to). Then, we played a game where neither of us scored a single point.

Spoiler alert: The sport is much harder than it looks.

First, you get onto the curling sheet (the field of play) with grips on the bottoms of your shoes since you’re standing on ice. Though, it’s not the skating rink ice you’re used to. It’s pebbled for play. The look reminds me of textured glass on an office door, but I’m told it’s for the stone to travel farther.

Then, if it’s your turn to throw, you kneel, put a slider under your front foot, and use your back foot to push off the hack (a little angled platform that’s permanently in the ice). Once you’ve glided forward enough, let the stone go, preferably with a little spin on it, and then, it’s on your teammates to sweep it into scoring range.

Everyone in our group was overshooting the stones past the target-looking thing (the house with the button at the center), so naturally, I undershot every time to balance things out (whoops).

Having said all that, for $30, we got a lot of laughs, and eventually some confidence, so I would do it again!

Already a curling expert?

Please email me your pointers. And, did you know there’s a Nashville Curling Club?

Their fall season starts soon, which will be broken into three groups:

• Recreational league: Saturdays at 8 a.m.
• Beginner league: Sundays at 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. (teams will include new and experienced curlers)
• Competitive league: Mondays at 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. (it’s “bring your own team,” though the club says you can sign up as an individual or partial team and be paired with other free agents)

The league is eight weeks, including seven games and a championship game week (with a 50% off discount for new curlers). Registration closes Sept. 1, and the season begins Sept. 9.