From a message board I’m on: Post an mp3 of a song that gives you very strong memories of a specific time in your life, no matter how mundane the memory may seem.

I stuck around for the summer in Kingston, Ontario after wrapping up my sophomore year in college. I had one night class on Media and Society, where we watched horror films from the 80s and related it all back to family dynamics and the changing role of the child as a threat to the American family (Carrie, The Exorcist) or as something to be protected (Poltergeist, Parents). Afterwards a couple of us would drive over to a friend’s place and watch the Leafs game; it’s the only time I’ve ever come close to following hockey during the regular season.

Aside from that, though, there was dick all to do and plenty of time to kill, and on top of all that I was an insomniac. So every so often, after midnight, I’d hop on the bike and ride down to the shore of Lake Ontario, towards the hospital, through all the neighbourhoods with the empty student houses, and back to my tiny little third-storey room with a giant old oak tree by the window. All the while, this album was the soundtrack.

I’ve never had a more peaceful time in my life before or since. I really miss it.