YARDSAAALE
Today was the town-wide yard sale in my hometown. Since time immemorial, we've been making a day of it- inviting the whole family up to sell off their culch, too. The larger collection of stuff increases the chance that people will stop. We always make sure to put some attention-getters out by the road.
This year, we had a full-size wood stove and a dining room table as the eye-grabbers.
We also had this here boat. It's inflatable, and the bottom was chewn open by squirrels at some point in the 20 goddamn years Uncle Gene has been storing it in my mama's garage.
In an act of heroism, my kid brother sold the damned thing, by throwing in a vinyl patch kit for free. He's shown here helping the brave souls who bought it to cram it in the car.
After the yard sale, we had a family reunion barbecue. I grilled everything and lit none of it on fire, even with the addition of copious crap beer. After that, my cousin Dei and I lit off the stash of fireworks I bought a few weeks back. (Verdict: Dancing Lion: not worth it. Naughty Elephant: okishly. UFOs: tricky but entertaining, will attack the dog. Rainbow Knight: worth it, value added by gay jokes. Ladybugs: so totally beyond worth it, especially when they land on your uncle Jimmy's car.)
I got a pretty good haul, too:
From top left: an unopened Visible Woman kit, a trucker hat that will soon bear silkscreening,
a bone and antler knife, glass harmonica CD, a Frankenstein mask, and... a field medic kit.
Have a better look at it:
Probe, scalpel, retractor, another probe with the tip broken off, scissors, and tweezers. So lovely. The leather case is crumbling like cardboard. Not sure if I should make a replacement, or just let it be freaky and old.
Grand total of the day: 1 mother, 1 brother, 3 uncles, 3 aunts, 2 cousins, 1 infant cousin-once-removed, 1 cousin-in-law, 1 grandmother, 4 dear family friends and a dog. This is happiness.
This year, we had a full-size wood stove and a dining room table as the eye-grabbers.
We also had this here boat. It's inflatable, and the bottom was chewn open by squirrels at some point in the 20 goddamn years Uncle Gene has been storing it in my mama's garage.
In an act of heroism, my kid brother sold the damned thing, by throwing in a vinyl patch kit for free. He's shown here helping the brave souls who bought it to cram it in the car.
After the yard sale, we had a family reunion barbecue. I grilled everything and lit none of it on fire, even with the addition of copious crap beer. After that, my cousin Dei and I lit off the stash of fireworks I bought a few weeks back. (Verdict: Dancing Lion: not worth it. Naughty Elephant: okishly. UFOs: tricky but entertaining, will attack the dog. Rainbow Knight: worth it, value added by gay jokes. Ladybugs: so totally beyond worth it, especially when they land on your uncle Jimmy's car.)
I got a pretty good haul, too:
From top left: an unopened Visible Woman kit, a trucker hat that will soon bear silkscreening,
a bone and antler knife, glass harmonica CD, a Frankenstein mask, and... a field medic kit.
Have a better look at it:
Probe, scalpel, retractor, another probe with the tip broken off, scissors, and tweezers. So lovely. The leather case is crumbling like cardboard. Not sure if I should make a replacement, or just let it be freaky and old.
Grand total of the day: 1 mother, 1 brother, 3 uncles, 3 aunts, 2 cousins, 1 infant cousin-once-removed, 1 cousin-in-law, 1 grandmother, 4 dear family friends and a dog. This is happiness.