Good morning and Happy Saturday, y'all. This is a perfect Saturday morning here in Northern Virginia. The grass is wet but crisp. Birds are chirping, and the sun is bright. Bright, warm, dewey Saturday mornings like this make me remember one of my favorite things about Saturday mornings growing up - going to yard sales with my Granny Nora. I loved it. It was like a weekly treasure hunt. Stopping at McDonalds or Hardees for a biscuit first, of course, then going down the list of yard sales Granny had circled in the classified section of the newspaper. Yes, the newspaper, remember those?
When I was a kid, Papa Tom would drive. As soon as I turned 16, I would drive, and Granny and I would go yard saling, just the two of us, which was fun because my Papa Tom was a talker if you know what I mean, and he would see some old lawn mower or something and strike up a conversation and Granny I would be ready to move on, and he would be standing there, talking.
Granny loved to buy things for the house. She was constantly decorating and re-decorating. Her favorite things to score at yard sales were sheets and bedding. She would change that stuff every week if she found something she loved. I always went straight for the books, and my collection of Baby Sitters Club books was quite extensive thanks to yard sale and thrift store finds.
Mornings like this make me remember those times of digging through items placed on top of turned-over brown cardboard boxes, laid on the edge of an oil stained driveway, along the edge of wet grass. I can smell the yard sales.
I realize now how much I learned from all of those Saturdays with my Granny. I am still an ultimate bargain hunter. Pretty much everything in our apartment is from Craigslist. It's very rare that I buy anything for our home "brand new." I would love to change things around more, and if I could, I would. I think there is great beauty in taking something that someone has already used, and making it your own, and also beauty in passing it on to the next person.
Now, my Granny lives in California, and I haven't seen her since right after my wedding. I miss her so much. I would love to go get in my car, swing by her house, pick her up, hit the drive-thru and go yard sale hunting.
1 comment:
I remember doing almost the exact same thing with my grandmother and mom when I was growing up.
Post a Comment