Koosh

So I went to Target yesterday (or, as my wife’s cousin calls it, “Tar-jjay”, with a French accent. She’s not French, she just likes pretending that Target is posh). We originally went to get some tub lids. (We already had the tubs, but the lids were the wrong size, so we haad to exchange them) While we were there, we randomly picked up a few other things…a whole cartload, in fact. Most of it was picked out by my wife and kids. I was just along for the ride.

And then, in the toy aisle, I got my chance. In between saying, “No, you can’t have another Barbie doll” and “No, we’re not getting a Power Rangers mask”, I saw them, hanging on the rack.

Koosh balls.

If you don’t know what Koosh balls are, go to Target and get some. But you should. They used to be everywhere. And nowadays you only find them with plastic faces sticking out, or in oversize sizes, or something else strange. Used to be, they only came in baseball-size sizes, and monochrome colors. Well, here they were, hanging on the wall. Sure, they’re striped and speckled, but they’re the right size and there are no faces sticking out of them. So I bought one. In fact, I bought four.

The first thing you notice about Koosh balls is that they feel just awesome. They are incredibly easy to hold, and you can tickle someone’s cheek very nicely with them. Then there’s the smell. New rubber. Mmmmmm. Almost as good as new car smell. Almost.

There’s the fact that they jiggle when you hold them. They look a lot like sea anemones. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if anemones were the inspiration for Koosh balls. This calls for some research. And finally, they are the ultimate juggling ball. Easy to catch, and if you are barefoot and miss one and are talented enough (and I, ahem, am) you can keep juggling what you have while your toes pick up the one you dropped. Much better than chasing the tennis ball under the sofa.

It’s been years since I owned any Koosh balls, much less new ones. I’m sure I have a couple hiding in drawers somewhere. Mark and I used them all the time for juggling, both the normal ones and the oversize ones. It got to the point where we each had our favorites. I’m surprised we didn’t name them. (Say, Mark, how’s Sophia been doing? You know, the little yellow one with the red stripe?)

There are some little known things you can do with Koosh balls. You can “mate” them. At least. that’s what we used to call it. If you hold two close and lightly jiggle them, bringing them slowly closer together, they intertwine and get stuck together. Mated Koosh balls.

But for the best reaction (even better than juggling five of them, which Mark can do and I can’t, damn you sir), for the best reaction of all, try dunking one in water.