So, the government put the call out this week, a reminder to anglers to get the fishing shacks off the ice by March 15th.  So, thousands of fellas will lose their second homes and go back to the garage, if they have one.

When I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s, the fellas had dibs on the basement.  There were four concrete walls.  The ringer washer, the hose and the tubs were in one corner along with a credenza where we kept our pickles.  It smelled of dill, garlic, crab apples and cloves.

We had curtains for partitions, old couches and chairs and a couple of dusty, old area rugs.  We had a record player and a radio.  We called it the "rumpus room". 

We wore shoes in the basement because the floor was cold.  

Some of us had hockey nets and sticks and tennis balls to take a few shots.  Some had ping pong tables and model trains and electric race car tracks.  

Whatever happened to the basement?