MONDAY UPDATE: Sunday was much slower; today we're carting the leftovers away, and only a few items came back into the house. The attic is almost empty! The final total was about $600. Was it worth it? I guess so...but I don't think I ever want to do it again. It's not about the money, it's about getting rid of all that stuff you've accumulated. I definitely feel like there is some "flow" starting to happen as crowded spaces open and the burden of "possessions-that-possessed-us" lightens up. And it's become almost easy to let things go. But how I would like to be done with it!!
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Today we had a yard sale. I've never done this before.
We sold a lot. More important, the volume of stuff we have to deal with has been reduced. I enjoyed - as a friend had told me I would - seeing small bits of our life being carried out in other people's hands, ready to start over in someone else's life.
Getting ready for this was a huge amount of work. All day yesterday, one of the hottest, humid-est days we've had all summer, I went up and down two flights of stairs to the attic, across the lawn, and out to the garage and back again. I washed many many items of glassware and china. I polished bits of silver. J. sorted boxes and boxes of clothes, made signs, set up tables on sawhorses, carried and arranged large heavy objects. At 11:00 pm we fell into bed, but woke at 4 and got up, unable to sleep any longer.
We went back out to the garage and worked some more.
At 5:30 I made coffee and pancakes.
At 7:30 the first customers were already driving past, even though our sign and ad had said, "no early birds." The sky, which had been threatening rain, seemed to be clearing. Optimistically, we moved all the big pieces of furniture from the porch to the driveway. As soon as we finished, it started raining.
Soon it was pouring.
Plan B was to hold the whole sale in the garage, and that's what we did. At a quarter of nine we let the first arrivals start looking. By 9:30, the garage was full of dealers, all of whom seemed to know each other, and all the best things were sold. Dealers ask questions like, "You wouldn't happen to have any old prints in the house, would you? Any more furniture you might want to sell?" I like low-key, country antique dealers, because I grew up around them. I like talking with them and kidding around, playing the game, bargaining. Everybody is good-natured about it; it's social.
The next three hours brought a steady slow trickle of buyers and lookers, most of whom carried off a basket or a mug or a set of placemats - little things. The rain stopped, the sun came out; in fifteen minutes it was pouring again. At 1:00 pm we shut the garage doors and took ourselves out to lunch at the diner.
Tomorrow at 9:00 am we start all over again, and after that, everything left is going to the thrift store or recycling. And right now I'm taking tired body and my aching head to bed. But it was a good day - even a fun day. People, generally, are pretty nice.
