Tales from an Urban Yard Sale

The first order of business was to tidy up the weeds in my very small front yard. I started out by not being able to find the extention cord that allows the electric weed whacker to operate, so in the early morning haze, I decided I'd trim the lawn, such as it is, with my pruning shears.

This was not as bad an idea as it seems; however, at some point I gave up and tossed a king-sized sheet over the whole mess. My front yard is slightly larger than a king-sized sheet, and I'm not joking when I say that. So, as luck would have it, I did more in terms of actual physical labor before 9:00 yesterday morning than I'd accomplished in the previous six months.

Ow.

After that, I dragged some tables outside and started to put junk out. You've never seen such an array of junk, I promise. I spent most of the day trying to convince somebody--anybody!--that he, she, or they needed an assortment of sequined fruit.

"I have a Carmen Miranda costume that's losing fruit." said one of the people I pitched. Woohoo! I thought. Sale! "I'm sure I'll regret not buying this next week."

Or not. I did sell all the opera CDs, and all the other weird CDs left behind by roommates past. This includes the Kenny G. CD. I'm thankful that I never again have to explain its presence in my house.

A guy wearing a shirt that celebrated Mark McGwire's home run season bought a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves. Ed was slightly disturbed by this, and I can see why.

One thing I noticed in looking at the selection of junk put out by my neighbors is that two different neighbors were trying to ditch copies of Bill Gates' The Road Ahead. I guess it's not the kind of tome you're liable to read again. Of course, I never read it in the first place.

In shopping, I limited myself to two hand-thrown bowls from Margo's assortment. She does pretty nice work, and I like hand-thrown bowls big enough for salad, cereal, or snacks.

The yard sale reminded me how very grubby a person can get simply by being outside. My neighbors are nice people. Apparently there are two brand new babies on the block, both girls. Bo, the hound dog next door, still looks like he ought to be out chasing rabbits, and at the end of the day, both my extra coffee makers had found new homes.

I was happy about that.

before - after