Junk Junkies

Walter and I spent most of the last weekend on an impromptu garage sale world tour of Burbank.

It started innocently enough, with me leaving the house bright and early to get some morning supplies from the grocery store.  Eight doors down the street I spotted a lawn filled with things that I didn't need but must have because they were dirt cheap.

Twenty minutes, groceryless and $2 later I returned to Walter's with an armload of goodies which I dumped on the bed in an eager show-and-tell.  Walter was still sleeping but that didn't stop me, not in my euphoric condition.

His eyes opened at the mention of a mini Revereware frying pan in near-mint condition.  (A passion for this brand was one of the initial things we realized that we had in common when we first met.)  "What else did they have...." he wondered, now wide awake.

Shortly thereafter, coffee in hand, we were in the car and on the road to what turned out to be a bounty weekend despite the rain that morning.  It ended up being my favorite kind of perfect overcast fall weather, and just being out in the fresh air felt great. Additionally, I consider getting in and out and in and out and in and out of the car bonafide exercise.

Burbank normally requires garage salers to get a permit, limiting sales per household to once every six months.  But this weekend, we learned, was permit-free so the junk was selling on lawns and in driveways all over town at-will.  It was like shooting fish in a used barrel.

I ended up spending a total of about $30 between both days which filled up Zeke the Wonder Car.  Yes, we went back out Sunday, too.  Another common passion we discovered in each other: the joy of junking!

Books, an electric potato peeler that I later found out had a short in the wiring, some antique kitchenware, an aerobic step that I probably won't use but hey it was only two bucks, more books, wine glasses from a pair of party ladies in their 80s, a leather dayrunner, a student guitar that I might one day learn to play, clay pots for my new window herb garden, and other assorted goodies.

Now we're contemplating having our own garage sale. Walter has been cleaning his garage out lately anyway, and I have to get rid of junk to make room for all my new junk.

But therein lies the beauty of "junking" to begin with.  Why let something sit in a closet and collect dust when you can set it free back into the world to bring joy to someone else, even if you only get a quarter for it?

In the meantime, garage sale-ing is an excellent way to spend quality time together, to meet new people, get involved in interesting conversations about what the stuff they sell means (or doesn't) to them, and see neighborhoods never explored before.  Can't really put a price on that!

Comments

[lisa]

Hee! Rayna, at the tender age of 4, is all about 'sale-ing' on Saturday mornings now (it is genetic)! Last weekend she was thrilled to 'score' a Barbie cash register (complete with plastic coins and cards) and a LeapPad learning system with modules from her favorite, Scooby Doo. More junk in my trunk, but we had fun. Groceries are overrated, right?

Have you ever read any of Mary Randolph Carter's Junk series books (American Junk, Big City Junk, Kitchen Junk, Garden Junk... and there's a new one in the works to be released ~November). This girl knows how to junk....

[lisaburks]

I'm impressed with her skills, you have taught the grasshopper well, lol!

Thanks for the book series tip, sounds great - the trick now is to find them for a quarter at the next yardsale, heh.