Yard Sales Are Much More than Just About Money

Everyone hopes they will make money at their back yard, front yard, open garage door, or simply piles of used goods on their parking strips. In reality, however, yard sales are about family, about gatherings, about friends, and about memories.

Years ago on a hot August afternoon I was returning from work and anxious for a cold bottle of beer to cool me down and relax. I drove by a lemonade stand of one young girl and two younger boys, not unlike my own children. There was no line waiting to buy. As I drove closer to home, the image of the children selling lemonade haunted me. I finally turned around and returned to the lemonade corner only to find it empty. I was disappointed and drove home. My cold beer did nothing for me as I thought about the three children and their lemonade stand. The image still haunts me.

One of my wife Peg’s and my favorite places to visit in the Pacific Northwest is Edmonds, Washington. Amtrak runs right through the town. The ferry lands and takes people away and brings people back. It’s like a foreign country. Yard sales in Edmonds are also one of our favorite places to go shopping. Among other goodies, we purchased a well fitting coat for Peggy, a Donald Duck golfing print for me, which I bought and donated to an auction at the Transportation Club of Tacoma, which raises money for the Emergency Food Network. The last time we visited Edmonds I returned with a set of light-weight dumbbells to exercise with. I use them almost every day. They are really easy to use.

Peg’s P.E.O. group has an annual summer time garage sale in Steilacoom. The money raised from the sales goes to help education for women. Some of the funds probably go to support Cottey College a private women’s college in Nevada, Missouri, where I was born. There is no connection between me and Cottey College, except my grandfather worked there during the depression.

For years our daughter Andrea and my sister, Marsha, set up their canopy in our backyard and sold left over blankets fleece hats and bibs from the 4th of July fireworks display in Old Town Tacoma. Mostly we had our own little sale going as well, but the joy was in the laughter and the stories we told, shared, and re-told. I got my favorite cap that way. It was created during a chat fest at one of our yard sales . . . possibly. I think it was just after watching the film: The Last of the Mohicans.

Marsha died at the beginning of COVID; we were all heart broken. Actually, our last yard sale was in our front yard with my youngest sister Deedee. We mostly talked about family stories and laughed at each other. After Marsha’s death and COVID we are expanding. I talked with a couple of neighbors and we decided to band together and put on kind of a party and block yard sale combined. People seem to like the idea. I printed up some flyers and went from door to door talking to our neighbors . . . sometimes for the first time. I enjoyed the chats with them. The news has spread out and around including much different objects for sale than normal. We have a racing Sailboat and a used RV, which are very popular these days. I’m also working on a demon destroyer of landscapes and bushes, the Japanese Knotweed. I kept one Japanese Knotweed that’s mean and a foot long. It not only makes a healthful tea, but also strangles many beautiful and needful plants.

Deedee is ready to return to our yard and sell some collections of our sister Marsha. My cousin Lindy, will be selling books her husband collected about history and philosophy. She still loves her husband, who passed away during COVID, but his books take up much of the room in their Lakewood apartment.

We are looking for entertainers who will work for nothing but praise and admiration and a mouthful of “Much obliged.”

This is a neighborhood event and we look forward to seeing what everyone has to offer for sale. One person, just a few hundred feet away is an artist who experiments with different colors and forms. Just a week ago I saw a children’s lemonade stand on our own block, but I was off on an errand and already late. When I returned, just like years and years ago, the stand and the children were gone. For our neighborhood Yard and Garage sale, I hope for the best and look forward to neighbors and strangers having fun, with visitors stopping by, and children offering up lemonade to cool us off on a warm and exciting Saturday in August. I know it will bring back memories and a relaxing joy. If nothing is happening on your block, our friendly gathering would be happy to welcome you to North 47th and Huson in Tacoma. Start out early and you can visit various places in Lakewood, University Place, Fircrest . . . but don’t spend all your time and money. I’m sure we can easily entertain, sell, and have fun all day and even all weekend long. We’re full of vinegar, impishness and get-up-and-go!