"THE LOST ART OF BUILDING WITH YOUR HANDS - Imagination!"

     In June, the HiWay Hobby House, will shutter its doors, ending a tradition for hobbyists since 1956, my treasure-trove of building with my hands.
     What tradition?
     Building something by hand - a Lionel train layout or the thousands of plastic model kits, each awaiting the personal, customized flair of the model-builder. Now, we have video games and sports, 24/7, 365 days a year - nothing wrong with that, but, with little time out of the day to sit at one's desk and hunt for the numbered piece of engine block on the plastic "tree" for a 1963 Corvette, and imagining driving the mighty 327 roaring down the highway with you, the model-builder, in the driver's seat.     Ah, but I must update my FaceBook page.
     Mitch Albom, writing for [BackPage Parade.com/backpage], says:
     "Now, I don't want to play Cranky Man to technology, but there is a time to discover what you can make on your own...to assemble? We built little airplanes...glued plastic ships...hammered nails. We made forts, we strung tin cans, we drew faces on socks and pulled them over our hands.
     "And through it all, when we held up the toy rocket or the puppet, there was quiet. No thumping music. No sound effects. We used our own voices. and, in doing so, we discovered them.
     "Children should know that the most rewarding lights of their lives will always be lit - not by microchip processors, but by their imagination."
     When was the last time you used YOUR imagination?
     That reminds me - I'd better dust off those three remaining boxes in the basement - the last of my model stash!