The Buddy System

Many people are looking forward to summer weekends, but not quite in the same way I am. They are planning BBQs, get togethers with family and friends and fixing up the yard. I have nothing against these activities but my laser focus is one of the biggest yard sale weekends of the year. The anticipation is mounting! Is today Wednesday? Damn, its only Tuesday. The countdown begins!

Its important to have a yard sale buddy if you want to maintain the illusion that going to yard sales to collect more useless stuff makes the slightest bit of sense. In much the same way that having an exercise buddy or an AA buddy provides positive support, having a yard sale buddy does too. Most normal people would say "Why did you buy that? Are you nuts? You just HAD a yard sale to get rid of stuff!" A yard sale buddy says "That is so YOU! If you hadn't been there I would have bought that for you". 

Yard Sale Season Begins!

I'd given up yard sales for two years, but after my "sabbatical" I'm back with a vengeance! I've done some trespassing for a good cause to rescue old bottles. I've brought home absolute trash (like a box of crumbling newspapers for the late 60s). I helped my hoarding neighbor with her sale, which inspired me to have my own. We played 60s tunes on the record player and grilled pizza for the neighborhood kids. It was kind of a yard sale/block party.  I've been back in the yard sale saddle for just a few weeks and I'm looking forward to plenty more adventures.

Pictured above are wooden animals from the 60s. They're clearly luring me back down the road to a cluttered house but how can I resist? They are so cute!

Vintage Illustrations

I'm a Little Golden Book fan. I grew up with The Pokey Little Puppy, Scuffy the Tugboat, The Bunny Book and also shared them with my son. (Another favorite is "What Happened to Piggie?") Seeing the illustrations brings back so many happy memories. I found a title I was unfamiliar with at a rummage sale -- "I Can Fly", illustrated by Mary Blair. It was published in 1950 but looks completely fresh and the color palette is really inspirational. I'm happy to report that this book is included in a selection of Little Golden Book classics available on Amazon. I found a Pinterest board featuring Mary Blair's work. She's my new illustration crush. Some of her work is really sweet (like the illustration above). The work she did for Peter Pan is darker and makes me think of a scene from Samuri Jack.

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.