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Scattered areas of minor, heavy traffic congestion reported this morning

Bryant leaves an All-Star Game winner, West rolls 196-173

<p>My buddy Alner waved to me from across the snowy street.</p><p>&#8220;What are you driving for?&#8221; he asked, shaking his head in dismay as I tossed my convenience store purchases into the rear seat. &#8220;This is a great day for a little walk &#8211; nice and quiet. All you can hear is snow crunching underfoot.&#8221;</p><p>Wrong as Alner had been on many things since I&#8217;d known him, I had to admit he was right this time. I hadn&#8217;t even noticed the eerie silence right in the middle of town. Of course it made me think of something. So I shut the car door and headed over to join him. Predictably, he started to run, knowing that we&#8217;d soon be taking a little trip to times past.</p><p>&#8220;Not so quiet here, is it?&#8221; I grinned as we strode down a street in our hometown many decades in the past. Truly the neighborhood was alive, mostly with kids enjoying the snowfall.</p><p>&#8220;Someday you really must tell me how this power of metaphysical travel you have works,&#8221; he sighed. &#8220;Maybe I can find an antidote to it.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Not a chance,&#8221; I replied. &#8220;You&#8217;d get yourself stuck back in the cave man days. Hey, you want noise, you got noise. It&#8217;s 1940s and 1950s style.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Look at the kids building snowmen in the yards,&#8221; he said, pausing to check one out. &#8220;This one with the hat and mittens is huge.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We see snowmen only on greeting cards,&#8221; I said. &#8220;But back here the young folks spent a lot of time making them. Of course they didn&#8217;t have the TVs, video games and Twitter to keep them busy indoors, so they went out and about and used some creativity. Everybody had some anthracite coal for the eyes, and mom and dad could always donate an old scarf.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Really neat,&#8221; Alner said. &#8220;What&#8217;s that those other kids are building? Looks like a wall or something.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;No, it&#8217;s a fort,&#8221; I told him. &#8220;It took a long time and a lot of snow, but you ended up with a fortress you could hide behind, and then jump up and fire a wet snowball at your buddy.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Took a lot of work, it appears,&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;At least as much work as wiping out 10,000 aliens,&#8221; I said. &#8220;Plus, it was a lot more sociable than sitting at a computer &#8211; to say nothing about being a whole lot cheaper.&#8221;</p><p>From down the block we heard shouting and laughter. Young voices started cheering.</p><p>&#8220;Look at those sleds ripping down the hill,&#8221; Alner said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t believe how fast they&#8217;re going. Aren&#8217;t they worried about the traffic?&#8221;</p><p>I smiled at this scene from the past.</p><p>&#8220;Yeah, you could build up quite a speed,&#8221; I said. &#8220;And you did have to be careful. Fortunately, dads were pretty good at training the young sledders to keep things under control. Everybody cooperated. The towns often blocked off some of the popular hills for the kids, leaving the snow on the ground for them. Picture that with our world of everybody rushing somewhere 24 hours a day. Hey, time to go.&#8221;</p><p>Within seconds we were back outside the convenience store.</p><p>I&#8217;d no sooner said &#8220;see you, buddy,&#8221; and opened my car door when I felt an expertly tossed snowball hit the back of my collar and start sliding down my neck.</p><p>About 20 feet away, Alner stood grinning, brushing snow off one hand.</p><p>&#8220;Must have slipped,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Besides, I&#8217;d look funny building a snowman at my age.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Remember When </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TOM_MOONEY-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Remember When </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Tom Mooney</p><p>Remember When</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Tom Mooney is a Times Leader history columnist. Reach him at tommooney42@gmail.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Remember When: Building snow men and holding snowball fights took precedence over video games and television