After being invited to join the challenge to write blogs through the alphabet, here I am. It has been a very busy summer for me, and I have a bit of catching up to do, so bear with me as I crank up my brain to meet this challenge. After all, many already know that I love to use words (lots of them) to communicate with friends (old and new) on this wonderful social network site.
For the first eight years of my life, my family lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Our mailing address was listed in a “smaller than a hamlet” place about five miles from our farm. There were three grain elevators, a train station, two houses, and a general store that sold a few groceries, some hardware items, the occasional selection of work overalls and rubber boots, and the post office. The storekeeper lived in the back so was almost always available to open for a customer, no matter the time of day or night. There was one gasoline pump near the entrance, and because there was no electricity, if you wanted gasoline in your truck, you had to manually pump it. Both passenger and freight trains did run through town, to load grain from the elevators or pick up passengers. If we needed to board the passenger train, the storekeeper would put a flag up at the station to alert the engineer that there are people who wished to travel to the city on his train.
We couldn’t really call it our hometown, for obvious reasons, but when my parents needed to do banking, purchase repair parts for machinery, expand their grocery list, or go to church, we travelled about 12 miles to the nearest town called Acme. It wasn’t a big town; one business Main Street, and several short streets lined with neat houses and picket fences. One house was Dr. Elliott’s home and medical office, and he did the best he could for patients, even though he did not have access to a hospital or support from another doctor.
A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to drive through Acme on the way to visit our close friends. We were amazed at the expansion of the town, clusters of new homes, a curling rink, community center, golf club, library, and active service clubs. Even though it is 86 km from Calgary, it is now considered to be a ‘bedroom community’ for people who work in the city. That is quite a commute, but also gives the advantage of having a quiet and friendly neighborhood to come home to.
I’m proud to still call Acme my hometown!
Tags: Memories Childhood
