124797280_web1_WB-gunfire-1-04032020

Two people detained after drive-by shooting in Wilkes-Barre

After ignoring warnings, Israeli ultra-Orthodox hit by virus

PLAINS TWP. &mdash; As the song goes, &ldquo;Those were the days, my friend, we thought they&rsquo;d never end.&rdquo;
				Well ain&rsquo;t that the truth these days.
				The song also says: &ldquo;We&rsquo;d fight and never lose. Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days.&rdquo;
				Today we are all fighting to get through this pandemic and return to some form of normalcy. Who would ever have thought that we would be confined to quarters, unable and afraid to go just about anywhere? Afraid to come into contact with our neighbors, our friends, our world?
				As kids in the 1960s, we never thought about such things. We lived for the moment. &ldquo;We laughed forever and a day.&rdquo;
				But here we are now all grown up and no place to go. We work from home, we eat at home, we do everything at home.
				Every time we turn on the TV we search for some good news &mdash; that the pandemic is leveling off, that cases are declining, that a treatment has been found.
				Instead we sit and wonder if we will all be wearing surgical masks to go outside.
				So yes, my mind is constantly taking me back to those good old pre-pandemic days. I now must rely on my dreams to relive those glorious days when people smiled at each other, said hello through unlocked screen doors, did favors for one another, cheered for each others&rsquo; children and found great joy in places like Melody Park, North Lake, Sylvan Lake, Lake Silkworth and Harveys Lake.
				Melody Park was quite the place. I think the owner&rsquo;s name was Charlie.
				Families would load up their cars and head out to the park for a day of grilling, playing, laughing and relaxing. The Plymouth Little League always held its annual summer picnic at Melody Park. The featured event was the egg-tossing contest. You would toss uncooked eggs back and forth to your teammate and after each round, if you caught the egg without it breaking, you would take a step back.
				Simple times, simple fun.
				My mom would make sandwiches, potato salad, cole slaw, macaroni salad, and she would prepare burgers for the grill and there were also hot dogs. She would pack all in a big cooler, leaving room for some soda and a few beers for dad.
				Once the car was loaded, off we went, out the Dallas Highway to that turn just before the Ranch Wagon. About seven miles down Demunds Road, we would turn onto a dirt road and the turnoff for Melody Park would appear, with Charlie standing there, waving us in, wearing a baseball cap and a big smile.
				We would park the car next to the pavilion and unload everything. The early arrivals were already setting up, getting tablecloths on the wooden tables and charcoal grills were already flaming, providing the best hot dogs and hamburgs you would ever taste.
				As soon as I got there I wanted to run to meet my buddies to plays basketball or baseball or to go for a swim. In the late afternoon, the adults would play cards &mdash; the men played poker, and the women played pinochle.
				Melody Park is not what it used to be. The land is there, the pond is, well, b]=not fit for swimming, and the pavilions are gone.
				But the memories made there will never go away.

Coping with Corona: Back when we laughed forever and a day