jeannefiorini

Back in the saddle again this weekend.

Kate and I were in the same town for a change, the rain held off until later in the day, the tummy felt better, all we needed were a few good scores to make for a perfect day. For a Saturday at the height of the season there were fewer sales out there than would be expected, and Kate, who came home with only a book and a memory game for Vera, would say it was uninspired.

Even on this relatively pleasant summer morning, many of our usual yard sale peeps were nowhere to be seen. No Mary, not even Jack, although we did see Kathy who is now out saleing for her baby who busted out of womb-prison in June.

The real bummer was that, although I had my camera with me, I didn’t realize the battery was dead until I went to take a picture of a sofa with a large sign on it reading “The Best $20 You’ll Ever Spend.” Theirs was a fun yard sale.

Sometimes when you see the massive pile of stuff on someone’s lawn and driveway, you can’t help but wonder not only how they fit all this into their house in the first place without it all busting at the seams, but what else might remain inside not having making the yard sale cut. Scary.

But this group was enjoying themselves, a mom and a couple of 20-ish “kids.” Joking, drinking coffee and eating donuts, presiding over the 10′ banquet tables crammed with stuff; clearly the kids were there as muscle to help mom move it, literally and figuratively. Mom emerged from the house repeatedly with armfuls of used merchandise, wearing a weary but amused face of “Why did I think this was a good idea?”

Yard saleing is like quantum physics — the unified field allows for various and innumerable “outcomes” depending on the presence of the observer. In the same way that I had a certain experience a few weeks ago when Kate was absent from the event, an experience that would have been vastly different had we been traveling together on that day, this day’s outcomes were directly impacted by her keen powers of observation.

“Mom, you need this witch.”

Yeah, that’s just what I need.  I don’t do kitch. But truth be told, although I’d seen the thing — how could you miss it?– it didn’t captivate me until I really looked.

The colors are great, the expression on the cat’s face is priceless, her lamp really lights up, but it was her bosom that sold me. If you know anything about the Tarot you might recognize both Empress and Hermit aspects here. Standing about 30″ tall, her gaudy friendliness will  brighten my porch at Halloween and I’m totally in love with her.

And right there is part of what I love about yard saleing: you never know if the day will bring things of beauty, utilitarian things, things of monetary value, unique things or things that everyone has/needs that you just haven’t gotten around to buying, or no things worth buying at all.

As Geoffrey Rush muses in Shakespeare in Love: “It’s a mystery.”

On we go. Speaking of utilitarian, who doesn’t need nice hangers? Bag o’ hangers … $2.

The Egyptian gift wrapping paper seen below is another example of Kate’s prowess in seeing a thing that somehow escape me or whose usefulness I’ve overlooked. This is a full roll of that heavy-duty Sally Foster paper that kids sell for fundraisers; Josephine, if you lived nearby I’d be giving this to you!

The pottery addiction was satisfied today, as well as the never-ending search for interesting frames and the art to put inside them. This old wooden frame is a beauty, making part of my Sunday chores the finding of just the right piece (something less-beautifully framed already hanging in my home) to complete the combo.

This day’s tally:

Bag o’ hangers:   $2
Art Pottery:         $2
Green glass kitchen bowl  $2
Gift wrapping paper  $1
Witch    $2
Wooden frame $2

$11 out-of-pocket and a morning spent delving into the mysteries of the unexpected.