------------------------------------------------------ Learn to Drive Think I was only seven or maybe I was only five. I really don't remember when I first learned to drive. Seated high on the tractor, perched upon my daddy's knee. Round and round those acres, hand on the steering wheel. Careful now, watch that corner. Careful now to plow a straight line. Keeping my eyes wide open- That's how I learned to drive. At twelve years old, I remember fighting with a stubborn machine Driving that rusty old gas truck to the field with gasoline. I'd ease that clutch out slowly, then feed the gas so carefully. But try as I might, it kept stalling and died eventually. Why does it never come easy? Why'd I stall it time after time? Coughing and jerking and stalling - That's how I learned to drive. On my sixteenth birthday - was off to town to see the man, Scared most half to death to take that driving exam. I knew that book backwards and forwards, Was sure by now I had it made. But my parallel parking was shaky, and that's how I failed. So, back to where I'd started. Back to try it one more time. Failing was never an option - That's how I learned to drive. There's a moral to this story - a lesson here quite profound. Anything in life worth having comes with a price somehow. You know, it will never come easy, No matter how long you're alive. You pick yourself up and keep moving - That's how I learned to drive! © Garry Stickel 2020 ------------------------------------------------------

Elevator Row The grain elevator was the heart of these towns. Everywhere on the prairies they rose. You could see them for miles on the blue prairie skies On the street they called “Elevator Row”. Every town had ‘em. They looked much the same – Just a place for the trucks to unload. They’d haul in the grain to be loaded on trains To be taken by rail to the coast. As a kid I would ride on the grain truck to town With a ribbon of dust far behind. Oh, the dust & the chaff made me itch & I’d scratch - I can still feel it all in my mind. Oh, the wind blows so cold down the alley As the truck strains to empty its load. I would open the latch, watch the grain down the hatch Disappear down that dirty black hole - Oh, the lifeblood of Elevator Row. Chorus: Where’d they all go? They tore them all down. How could they know they’d tear the heart from these towns? So, where we go now? It’s just business, you know. But something is missing - something is gone. On Elevator Row – down Elevator Row. Now there’s nothing much left where the elevators stood And even the rail lines are gone. And the town’s left to die or to somehow survive With nothing much else to go on. Now, I’m not sentimental, but I can’t help but feel There’s a part of my history gone. But that’s progress, they say. You can’t stand in the way. But somehow I’m wishing they’re wrong. They maybe right, but how would they know I’d be missing Elevator Row. Chorus: Where’d they all go? They tore them all down. How could they know they’d tear the heart from these towns? So, where we go now? Does anybody know? But something is missing, - something is gone On Elevator Row – down Elevator Row. © Garry Stickel 2013 -----------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------ Coffee Shop There was a coffee shop in my small town Where roughly 10 o’clock the old boys gather round. Where the farmer and the baker, and the local undertaker Discussed the world over truck-stop coffee grounds. In the corner as a kid, I’d listen in. Seemed like everyone knew everything ‘bout everything. Like the price of hay in China, and the heat in Carolina. I’d hear the latest in the weather and the news – Ah, the small town coffee shop crew. I heard the motor died in Henry’s Chevrolet. It was the cheap gas he was burning, they would say. And t’was winter of ’53 where the snow-tops touched the trees; And how the cars made in Japan would never stay. Last night the gas truck hit the ditch down by the trees, And now old Charlie’s cow has some unknown disease. And how the government’s gone crazy, and the kids today are lazy. Is there anyone who even has a clue – Like that small town coffee shop crew. Chorus 1: But oh, the stories they could sell. Fact or fiction – you could never really tell. In a world where we’re painted all the same. Each guy was unique in his own way. A character with oh so much to say.... Ah, that small town coffee shop crew. I see the waitress come with refills all around. And the table seemed to grow as time went down. They were on to the next crisis- The wheat and barley prices And how the world had gotten turned so upside down. All this knowledge seemed a bit too much for me. But for a dollar, it was better than TV. But as stories come and go, not sure anybody knows They’d start with facts, then make the rest up as they do- Ah, that small town coffee shop crew. Chorus 1: See now, the years somehow so quickly slipped away. That old coffee shop’s not there at all today, And the old guys are no longer, But my memory is stronger Now I’m old enough t’have joined that chosen few – The small town coffee shop crew. Chorus 2: But oh, the stories they could sell. Fact or fiction – you could never really tell. In a world where we’re painted all the same. Each guy was unique in his own way. A character with oh so much to say. And the world is somehow richer now today.... A that small town coffee shop crew © Garry Stickel 2020 ------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------ My Walking Shoes Ah…………..I like to go walking Down by the riverside. There I do my best thinking. These days I’ve got a lot on my mind. As a boy I could walk for hours On the farm deep in those rolling hills. There in those wide, wide spaces My mind could roam where it willed. (Bridge): I’d go deep in the meadow where the cattle grazed. Down by the water where the wild ducks played. In the trees, by the creek, at the end of the day. My mind can see it now – I gotta go! (Chorus 1): Ah…………here comes trouble! And I know what I gotta do. Right now. Right now on the double. Grab my coat…….. Throw me down my walking shoes… My walking shoes. (Bridge 2) As the sun goes down on those prairie hills. As the shadows fall on the rocks and the fields. As the wind dies down and the night time stills My mind knows what to do – I gotta go! (Chorus 2): Ah………… I hear the wind calling And I know there’s not a minute to lose. When it’s time for some really deep thinking, Grab my coat……. Throw me down my walking shoes….. ……………………………………….. Ah…………here comes trouble! And I know what I gotta do. Right now. Right now on the double. Wind me up. - Cut me loose. Grab my coat. - Not my boots. Throw me down……………..throw me down My walking shoes. © Garry Stickel 2020 ------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------ Grain Dust There was nothing glamorous down on the farm. Just hard luck and trouble wherever you'd turn. Grinding a living from the dust and the mud. It gets into your soul - it gets into your blood. My dad was a farmer, like his father before. I was the one who just had to have more. The farm was too small – sacrifices too high. I learned what I could, then left farming behind. Now, as years go by, all these memories Hang like the dust on the fields. If I close my eyes for a minute – Take an honest look at myself, I see that grain dust still covers Everything that I do. I worked with my dad and I learned to be strong. I learned in a hurry where the money came from. It’s a hard life, this farming, but I’m happy to say Faith, love and family can take you A long way. Now, as years go by, and these memories Like grain dust they blanket the fields. But time can’t erase this legacy, These values – stronger than steel. If I close my eyes for a minute – Take a good, hard look at myself I see that grain dust still covers Everything that I do. It’s been a long time, but in my mind Some things – they really don’t change. Grain dust still covers everything - Everything that I do. © Garry Stickel 2020 ------------------------------------------------------