A Bright Spot in the Moving Madness – the Garage Sale
pilina = union, connection, meeting, joining, adhering, fitting
I am decidedly pro-garage sale. Let me tell you why.
We have an ARC just around the corner from our old house. Literally. And it’s great and I’m happy to donate to them on a regular basis, but if you want connection, if you want to make people’s day and see it on their faces and feel good about your place in the world, have a garage sale. Not because you want to make money, but because you want the things that meant something to you at some point to go into the hands of people whom it will now mean something to.
Exhibit A – the Raclette Grill
A raclette grill, for those who don’t know, is a cooking tool for communal meals invented by the Swiss. The grill goes in the middle of the table and everyone gets a little tray where you can put your raclette cheese and melt it underneath the grill, or cook meat or veggies on the top of the grill. I think mine was an award from a job at some point, one of those things where you pick from a catalog of offensive-to-noone items like luggage and knife sets. A man was so happy to find this because his mother-in-law is Swiss, and he couldn’t wait to invite her over for dinner.
Happiness Quotient (Rebecca): 7
Exhibit B – the Turtle Shells
Troy is an artist. Not for a living, but as a way of being in the world. He is also a hoarder who sees potential in everything. Half of our garage was filled with items whose trip home started with the phrase “I could make a sculpture with that someday.” He had a few old turtle shells from when he was living in Louisiana, found items that he had cleaned out and bleached. A woman was enchanted with them, and they spent a half hour talking about how to shellac them and what sorts of projects to make with them.
Happiness Quotient (Troy): 8
Exhibit C – the Seven Boxes of Novels
I have a Master’s degree in English Literature. Before I had Riv, I was a voracious reader and I still purchase several books a year. Thus, the amassed collection of hundreds of novels. A woman stopped by and asked what I was planning to do with the books that didn’t sell. She said that she was from Arizona and in town visiting a friend but that she works for a hospital where they have a library for patients of all ages. They let the patients keep the books they don’t finish, so they’re constantly looking for new books. Done – all books donated to her.
Happiness Quotient (Rebecca): 9.5
Exhibit D – the Bingo Daubers
When River was in elementary school, I was on the PTO and helped with several fundraising events, including the annual Bingo party. We had collected a couple dozen daubers over the years. Troy threw them into a bag to sell, assuring me “Someone’s going to want these!” He was right. It was one of the first things to go. A woman took the whole bag for $1 and was thrilled. Turns out she’s a semi-professional Bingo player who vacations to different casinos to play Bingo!
Happiness Quotient (Troy): 8
Exhibit E – the CDs
We had a few hundred CDs in our possession, many of which went to our neighbor Harvey Whitcomb who makes beautiful mosaics with them. The remainder sat in our driveway until a grandma, grandpa, and teenage grandson stopped by. The grandma asked how much the CDs were. I shrugged and said a quarter. She beamed to her grandson and said, “You pick out whatever you want, Honey, Grandma’s got this.” We all looked through the collection together, each giving the teenager recommendations on what to choose. I think they took about ten including a double album of Sergeant Peppers, some Miles Davis, and some various 80s music. The look on her face when they were walking away filled my heart to the brim, and I laughed with joy when I heard them playing Prince in their pickup as they drove away.
Happiness Quotient (Rebecca): 11
