The Dirty Bottle Caper

Last weekend a friend and I went to a yard sale at the estate of a 90 year old bottle digger & hoarder. I bought a few bottles and after I brought them home I arranged and photographed them. They began to cast a spell on both of us. We drove to the garage sale again to see if we could buy more. The property was abandoned but the crates of bottles were still outside.

None of these bottles were valuable (they weren't even especially old) but they were so alluring that they caused two law abiding women to temporarily take the law into our own hands.  We decided that it was a reasonable idea to drive back "under the cover of darkness" to rescue the crates of bottles from the dumpster looming nearby. Technically trespassing -- but it seemed the "right" thing to do. Why should they end up in the landfill again after they were so lovingly dug and saved by the deceased -- Mr. O. They had "possibilities".

My friend drove the getaway car and I assumed the role of cat burglar. I considered wearing all black but decided that it would make me look even more suspicious if caught. She nonchalantly circled the block while it was my job to carry the crates of bottles to the end of the driveway. The lights were on in the house but it was clearly long abandoned so that didn't deter us. I picked up a crate -- the lights went off & I got really scared. What if someone was in the house and was peering out the window with a shotgun? I froze. Then the lights went back on again. I put down my crate and raced back down the long driveway. After I got to the end of the driveway the lights went on again.

I'm sure there are logical explanations for the lights going on and off in coordination with my movements: there was faulty wiring, there a timer with a mind of its own, there was someone in the house. Or there is the illogical explanation: the ghost of Mr. O. just didn't want me sneaking into his yard taking his precious bottles. It was silly scary childish fun. It reminded me of the perfect Halloween -- going trick or treating at the creepiest house in the neighborhood. To top off the adventure a large meteor streaked across the sky when we drove home.