Duck pins? Anyone?

Its been years since I've gone bowling. As a kid...yes, a kid...I used to frequent this basement alley at our village's clubhouse. There were no automated bowling alleys then. There used to be "pin boys" who would patiently wait for you to unleash your ball and they would patiently set up the pins once your turn was over. I remember those creaky, uneven, wood floors of the bowling alleys of old. Those places used to smell of a mixture of beer and cigarette smoke.

Nowadays all seems so sanitized. The alleys today are marvels of science and technology with automated scoreboards and robotic hands that set up your pins. And duck pins seem to have gone the way of the dodo.

I miss those days.