eckville.

my brother sent me some lyrics from neil young's "music arcade" today

it instantly spurred memories of childhood in eckville a.b.

to me that song is about eckville.

"I was walking down main street

not the sidewalk but main street

dodging traffic with flying feet

that's how good I felt"

when I lived there, the population was roughly 900

and traffic was an occasional thing.

we would walk in the middle of the road,

mainly because a lot of the streets had no sidewalks,

but even downtown, we would often walk on the road.

"took a spin in the laundromat

played a game in the music arcade

kept winning while the band played

that's how good I felt"

the laundry mat was attached to the turbo gas station and you could walk through the back of turbo into

the back of the laundromat.

I remember walking around downtown looking for change in the gutters, or cans that we could turn in

for 5 cents a piece at turbo, and when we had enough money

we would go in and buy ketchup chips, or 5 cent candies.

then go into the laundry mat and eat them.

my friend kris grzech and I would go into the large dryers and spin each other or ourselves around.

there was an arcade on the north side of town called "franks arcade"

I was really young when it was running but I recall frank having a coin vending belt

which would spit out quarters for the games.

I think he sold single cigarettes to teenagers too, my dad liked him.

years later I would see frank riding his bike around rural central alberta.

I suppose I could write a book on my memories of eckville

it was really special growing up in a town of that size in that time.

we had very little rules and we used our imaginations to their full potential.

friends from eckville, listen to "music arcade"

see where it takes you.

neil young was always so present in my youth, when I hear him I see my dad,

I see my brother and I see my childhood.