Downsizing and Yard Sales

We’ve been talking a lot lately, Mark and I, about ‘downsizing’ our lifestyle. It will have to be done sooner or later; the question is when, not if. And how much, of course. Obviously I’m a collector – of memorabilia, photos, books, art, crafts, all manner of beautiful things. I didn’t set out to be one; it just happened. And now, what will I do with it all? What if the “Airstream trailer” fantasy became a reality?

Since starting the closet-cleaning project, I’ve really had to think about that question! Sell it? Donate it? Throw it away?

I had a ‘yard sale’ some years ago in my small town in Alaska. It was one of the most frightening experiences I’ve ever had. I didn’t know about Yard Sale Ladies. They all knew that I’d never put on a sale – or been to one myself – before. They knew that fresh stuff would be available – stuff that hadn’t already cycled around, countless times, within the usual ‘yard sale’ crowd. So they were ‘hungry’ – oh yes. I had no idea.

A friend had suggested that I put “No Earlybirds” in my ad for the sale. What a silly concept. I just wanted to sell the stuff. I didn’t care when. But evidently the Yard Sale Ladies get quite hostile if you give someone else a chance to ‘hi-grade’ your stuff. And then another friend said I would need to ‘rope off’ the yard (literally) to actually prevent those pesky Earlybirds from getting in among the stuff anyway before the appointed hour. I thought I’d be lucky to have someone wander by, from time to time, during the day – little did I realize that a crowd would form a half hour in advance! But one did.

And when we took down the boundary rope, in they poured. Chattering. Pawing through my carefully placed stacks of things. A cartoonist would be needed to really get the picture across.

Shudder.

I don’t think I could do it again.