The time has come and the blossoms are beginning to burst from their long dormancy from this unusually long and cold winter, and people are starting to peek out of their doors all pasty white and vitamin D deficient. And as tradition holds, in our long captivity from old man winter we have had a long time to look at and become sick of the large amounts of "stuff" that fills every nook, cranny, shelf, and drawer. Our capitalist nature begins to take hold and the garage/yard sales begin to sprout, like the dot coms of the 90's, it starts with just one, then you can't walk down the street without tripping over three hand made signs with convenient times locations and arrows to get you to the sure fire sale of the century.
So now you've done all the work, you have collected everything that you would like to get rid of and its all nicely tagged and placed for optimal viewing by the throngs of people that surely will come parading by your treasure laden trove. Sure enough the first seekers of fine appurtenances, come into view and begin perusing your rejected belongings. After a minute or two they give you the perfunctory smile and off they go, and then it hits you, why didn't they want any of your prized possessions? Are they too good for your "stuff"? and for the rest of the day you are watching each face as they come by, some quickly glancing through your "junk", while others just keep walking trying not to make eye contact confirming what you now know, no one wants your collection of Elvis memorabilia, tape deck from your 77 ford, or your never been used buns of steel cassette tape.
Aunt Donnell or as she preferred for a time it pronounced Dnell, has given me several interesting memories. Donnell is my moms baby sister, and she was young enough during my time in the old nest, that i remember her as a teenager. I vaguely remember her all dolled up for prom, but more importantly i remember how she was always trying to trick me! off the top of my head i recall one day we were in grandma, and grandpas bedroom and they had one of those heated blankets on the bed, and as i was laying there i felt that round electrical transformer tube thingy embedded in the blanket. being the inquisitive young lad i was, i asked the nearest "adult" what it was, of course with full sincerity she explained that it was a finger sewn in there from the factory after a terrible accident. Even though im sure i put up a resounding nuh uh, little doubts lingered in my susceptible brain for some time.
Another time she was eating those licorice bits, and as i was munchin one, she decided to let me in on a little secret that they were really bits of body parts.(I think she was a rather disturbed child).
She wasnt always on the winning side though:
In 1986(7 years old) she took me to McDonald's and got me a happy meal, and inside that joy filled box was a tiny hamburger, 3 fries, and a Stomper Mini 4X4, I can't remember which one it was exactly it was either the Chevy Van or the Toyota tercel. As it turns out this was the last one she needed to finish her collection, and she wanted it bad, she tried to bribe me with several things till she got to the cold hard cash. $5 could have been mine but no, that toy was not going to leave my greasy little hand.
My priorities have definantly changed over time, and Donnell just wondering, still up for that trade??
