On Location

I am writing this post on location, Memorial Day weekend.  It is 49 degrees, breezy and cloudy. I would like to report I am near a crackling campfire with a beautiful lake view as I wait for a marshmallow to be toasted to the perfect golden hue for an ooey gooey smores bar. In reality, my freezing fingers are tapping away on my keyboard in my garage, waiting for the possible arrival of customers at our rummage sale, day three. My coffee mug continues to get icy cold and the coffee cake is long gone. It is difficult to write with mittens on so I do brief warm-ups in my coat pocket. My co-conspirators in this project are not available yet so it is just me and my computer until the action begins. 

I do not remember the last time we had a garage sale but I know it was many moons ago. The stars aligned this year and we decided to take the plunge again. My husband and I are in varying stages of retirement as are my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. The goal for all of us is to organize, downsize and generally distance ourselves from the stuff we no longer need. The I-might-need-this-someday items are ready to see their last days with us. Time for a sale.

So, a date was set. The garage was cleaned. Boxes of treasures were unpacked and priced. The cash box was dusted off. Neon poster paper was purchased. Signs were made. Display tables were assembled using sawhorses and old doors. Items were arranged to maximize their value. Coffee cups were refilled. And finally it was go-time, no turning back.

Many lessons can be learned from rummage sales. The first is that there is something for everyone. The once popular scrapbooks we had for sale remained in a dormant state until the second day of our sale. A sweet little girl immediately saw the two scrapbooks and picked them with a sense of loving purpose. When she asked her dad if she could have them, he agreed. I saw the girl's creative gears begin to spin and I have no doubt she will have hours of fun with them. 

Another lesson is that sentimental attachments can be stronger than the practical need to purge. My husband had a set of plastic horses from his youth. The horses had little snap-on saddles and different cowboys for the horses. He had hours of fun with them and just looking at them brought back a flood of good memories. Obviously, Trigger and Silver are no longer needed in our household so the wise thing to do was to add them to our display tables. With hesitation, he put a fairly robust price on the set and I am sure he was secretly hoping they wouldn't sell. On the second day, two adorable little boys with big brown eyes picked up the horses and were given the greenlight by their dad. My husband watched as the young lads made the purchase and excitedly ran to their car. Both of us knew the horses would ride again and that is how it should be. 

The final lesson for me was simply this. Many people are nice. We had interesting conversations with a wide variety of folks. We re-connected with our neighbors and met a few new ones. We poured a cup of coffee for a couple of long time friends who stopped by and we enjoyed catching up. And, despite the rain, cold, wind and clouds, each customer proclaimed a love for treasure hunting. 

Speaking of customers, they are beginning to arrive. Time to refill my coffee cup and switch into sales mode. I still have hopes my harvest gold Bundt pan will find a new home.

Bundt pan update: It is still for sale.