Saturday December 11, 2004

Arlington Dr.- Virginia Highlands

At this sale I find a cold looking couple wrapped in heavy coats and scarves watching over a meager selection of stuff on the front porch of their craftsman bungalow. The most imposing item there is an old electric stove that will more than likely be in the street awaiting rescue by junkers by mid afternoon. Among the items on the porch are a electric ice scrapper, some plastic stemware with flamingoes on the stems, a old flatbed scanner for $5.00, a few men’s ties and an old Sony Cd player that is identical to the first Cd player I ever purchased. There are CDs by Jewel and Metalica and a VHS copy of the Bevis and Butthead movie.
I buy nothing.

Normandy Dr.-Druid Hills? Estate Sale

This sale was advertised in the AJC as a Druid Hills estate sale. This is more appropriately the fringe of Druid Hills. The sale is not in a stately manor house that one would expect in Druid Hills proper but in a small two bedroom ranch. But this being the dead season I’ll take what is offered in the way of sales. In the yard is a welcoming sign that says Garage Sale Whole House. The house does not have a garage but rather a carport and as I approach the piles of refuse and clutter I spy and old brass spittoon. Just past this symbol of the old south are five large boxes of Tupperware type containers of all shapes. This estate is one of remarkable redundancy for the there are three microwave ovens, two toasters at least three electric can openers and endless other repeated devices. Past the carport and inside the kitchen I am immediately met by a massive set of incredibly ugly Pfalzgraf china. On a shelf in the same room is a cryptic sign proclaiming “keep clean in order” with Thai characters saying the same thing or who knows what below it. In the dining room I find a double Cd entitled “Quiet Music for quiet listening” as well as three Cd’s by Yanni.
Back in the bedrooms there is a great pile of blankets strewn upon the bed. On the nightstand I find a crossword puzzle dictionary and a sign that says “day sleeper”. The bedroom closet is packed full of women’s clothes neatly sorted by color. On the closet door is a shoe rack filled with shoes including a pair of bedroom slippers with Santa heads on them. In the other bedroom are bookshelves. On one are two bowling trophies with the name WS Beavers on them. Among the books found are a number of cookbooks of local interest including “Puttin’ on the Peachtree”, “Dogwood delights” ‘The Dillard House cookbook” and “Georgia on my menu”. Other books include “No more cravings”, “Field guide to retirement” an Alice B. Toklas biography and “Flying” by Kate Millet. Wandering around I come across a box filled with old hand mixers, a UGA mouse pad with a picture of Uga on it, a plastic bag containing five cigarette lighters and two ice buckets with penguins on them. Back in the carport I notice a few things I missed on the way in. Two larger items are a large artificial Christmas tree in its original box, and a portable pet safety ramp also still in the box. The pet safety ramp is recommended for older arthritic dogs. It states that it can prevent injuries from picking up pets. I wonder if this means injury to the pet or to the pet owner. There are also a number of holiday decorations strewn about. One of which is a candle that looks like a totem pole with Santa figures on it. On the ground is one of those early cells phones the type that came in a pouch with a shoulder strap. I also take note of a small oval shaped massager named the Lady Bug. I throw the switch on it and the bug starts vibrating and rattling across the table.
I buy nothing.