Brad Hall: HALL THINGS CONSIDERED: Getting snowed in with 'The Price is Right'

Feb. 28—The snow and ice last week was certainly a mess to deal with, but it also brought back some fuzzy childhood memories of my grandparents' house.

Late Monday night, like thousands of others across the region and state, we lost electricity at our house.

Since it was already past midnight, we just piled underneath a bunch of blankets, went to bed, and hoped power would be restored sometime soon.

When we woke up the next morning and our thermostat said 51 degrees, we knew we'd have to make some arrangements to go elsewhere.

My wife and I ourselves might have been OK a little while longer, but with our baby Jaxson also having to deal with the cold, we knew we had to seek shelter somewhere else.

Thankfully, Carmen's brother offered up his place before we even had a chance to ask. So for most of the day Tuesday, Jaxson got to hang out with his uncle and aunt in the warmth of their home.

I had to head into work early and stay all day because we actually had to put together two newspapers since our Tuesday edition had been delayed to Wednesday.

That night, we decided to pack up our things and head over to Carmen's mom's house to stay until our power came back on — whenever that was going to be.

We would've just stayed with Carmen's brother since we were already there, but we didn't want our dog to be mean to their dog. And once we saw that the electricity was going to be out a while, we knew we'd have to pack up Skipper and take him somewhere too.

So we ended up hanging out at the house of Carmen's mom and stepdad for the next few days. I had an early work shift on Wednesday, but after that, we were just able to relax and enjoy being snowed in.

It was then that we happened to discover a TV app they had on their Roku device. If you've never heard of it, it's called Pluto TV, and has tons of free television streaming all day long.

It has classic TV shows like The Beverly Hillbillies, The Addams Family, Happy Days and Johnny Carson.

It has some 1990s favorites such as Rescue 911, Unsolved Mysteries and American Gladiators.

And also lots of sports, news, cartoons and reality shows to keep you entertained.

However, what really caught my eye and what I ended up watching all day long was the Bob Barker Price is Right channel. It was a channel that only played episodes of The Price is Right from when Bob Barker was the host.

So for many reasons, this brought back many feelings of nostalgia.

First off, you have the obvious nostalgia of seeing the show itself. The episodes we watched must have been from the early 1980s as Bob's hair had not turned gray yet. Plus we got to see how all of the contestants were dressed, as well as the old cars and furniture that were given away as prizes.

Can you believe a new car back then was only $7,000?

But besides getting to see all of that, there was some personal nostalgia for me that brought back memories.

With the combination of that show along with being snowed in, I couldn't help but remember when I was a little boy watching The Price is Right with my grandmother, aka "Nanny."

I still recall the days I'd be sick from school and would spend the day with her while my mom and dad were at work. Those days would of course be spent with me lying on her couch and sipping Sprite while watching The Price is Right at 11 a.m.

In addition, I was also reminded of the big blizzard we got in 1993. Obviously we didn't get that much snow last week, but I still couldn't help but be reminded of that time.

School was closed for weeks it seemed like, and we ended up being snowed in at my grandparents' house since that was where we were when the storm hit.

That also meant several mornings in a row of getting to watch The Price is Right with Nanny.

So when I spent most of the day last Thursday being snowed in and watching old episodes of The Price is Right, it brought back many memories.

The classic music, the old prizes, the pricing games, and the weather itself certainly brought back warm, fuzzy feelings of Nanny and the days when I was real young.

Of course there was much more to my childhood and to my grandparents than just a game show. Last week also reminded me of everything else my grandparents as well as my parents did for me when I was growing up. It also reminds me of everything my in-laws are doing for my wife and I now, and what they surely did for Carmen when she was little.

They all raised us up in a church and prayed for us. They all taught us right from wrong. And they always put us ahead of themselves to make sure we were taken care of.

They set the perfect example for what we needed to be like and how we need to raise our child. And then we just hope Jaxson carries on and treats his children the same way when he gets older and becomes a parent himself.

Deuteronomy 4:9 says, "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."

Certain memories of activities I did way back then may get forgotten. Little details here and there may not be easily recalled. But everything my family has taught me and did for me, and all of their prayers for me will never be lost.

Brad Hall is the nighttime editor at the Times-Tribune. He can be contacted at bhall@thetimestribune.com.