Estate Sale

Pre-dawn on the first day of the sale

Our neighbor's estate sale began yesterday at 9:00 a.m. and it concludes today at 3:00 p.m.

E. was our friend for many years, She and her family knew my husband and his first family for several decades before I moved into our house when Bob and I were married thirty years ago. Her wedding gift to me was a lace tablecloth that I used for a long time until one too many cats used it to slide across the Duncan Phyfe dining room table, not unlike this one but full of cat scratches, replaced with a more modern set about a decade ago. The furniture and the tablecloth would have fit in perfectly with E.'s estate sale offerings.

E. had moved to assisted living five or six years before she died eighteen months ago, so the house has been vacant for quite some time. When the family invited us to preview the items in the sale a few days ago, I felt very sad to see E.'s life laid out on every available surface in the house. E. & I shared a love for cats, and I was happy to be given a cat bookmark and a little, round china box with a black and white cat on it. When we got home after the viewing, my husband and I immediately began to clean house. We made several trips to the trash bin with buckets of garbage and polished off the afternoon with an excursion to the Goodwill.

We were unprepared for the onslaught of vehicles on our street yesterday morning. When I got up shortly after 6:00 a.m., cars were parked on both sides of the street, as far as I could see. By 8:30, a line of people stretched from E.'s house to the street, and the steady stream of people continued until the doors were locked at 3:00 p.m.

Yesterday, the serious collectors were out: WWII memorabilia, outboard motors, vintage magazines, ancient gardening tools, old books. We saw camping equipment from the fifties and garage shelving carried out to waiting trucks and SUVs. Our young neighbor bought some model railroad books from a half century ago and a newspaper section with a headline announcing VICTORY! after the Second World War.



People lined up all weekend

Today, leftover stock went on sale for 50% off. Several buyers were waiting at the door an hour before opening. Two hours before the estate sale ends, there's no place to park on the street and the house is being emptied by the bagful. A guy just walked by the window with a pair of older skis and poles. Even husband Bob went over, and came home with a cat carrier he bought for $2.50. I was actually very pleased, because the cat is too strong to stuff into her own small carrier, and this one will be more manageable.

E.'s tidy little house is full of strangers greedily shopping for a bargain. Just doesn't feel right.