Yard Sale Addict

Blackman Dr. - Medlock “Estate Sale”

At 7:15 in the morning this place is abuzz with activity. The small single story home is filled with over twenty yard salers jostling for position among the piles of clutter. Only four rooms in the home are open so this makes movement even harder. Entering the home I have a hard time getting past buyers shuffling though the boxes of lps on the floor. Once past them I can start to access what is here. It’s mostly confusion. A large bookcase abuts into the living room; tables of assorted goods line the walls. Only when I get passed this and into the dining room can I even begin to focus. The first thing I notice there is a selection of ceramic retirees figures sitting in rocking chairs. Mementos of retirement. Since there is six of these did the estate owner retire six times? Next to the ceramic retirees is a strange garish ceramic chicken. It’s difficult to tell if this is naïve art or just something ugly. Behind the chicken is a framed diploma from the Georgia College of Hunting and Fishing. On the adjacent sideboard is a pile of topographic maps of Lake Lanier and a Smith and Wesson air pistol still in its original box.
In the entryway to the kitchen is another diploma this one from the Atlanta College of Art, dated 1983. To escape the crowded conditions of the house I go out the kitchen door to find an array of clutter stacked upon a small back porch. Among a pile of art supplies I discover the small figure of a peacock encased in a curved plastic case. Out in the back yard I find two pieces or original art painted on windows. One is entitled “Pins and needles” and depicts a vision of bowling balls and cacti.
Back inside I find a box of games on the floor, included is the vintage mysterious looking and sounding Swahili Game. There are several musical instruments placed around the home. In a hallway is a set of Ludwig drums, in the living room an autoharp and in the dinning room a Memphis electric bass.
Among the many books I find “Brighty of Grand Canyon”, “Build your own garage manual” a set of Tolkien novels in Spanish, “Time management for dummies”, “The confessions of St. Augustine” and a torn up copy of “The Panama Canal” dated 1915.
Other assorted things scattered about are a large box of Beanie Babies, an occasional table topped with sets of poker chips, a large video camera on undeterminable format and a Liberace doll. The latter item has the seller telling potential buyers what these dalls are going for on Ebay. One other item of interest is a small painting labeled Arts and Crafts. The work depicts either a lighthouse of a nuclear power plant. But the most odd and cryptic item is a Beta tape in a plastic case with a CNN tape library sticker on it. It is logged “ Elvis sightings”. Could this be evidence that CNN had of Elvis living that disappeared from the newsroom before they were able to air the proof. Has this ended up like the alien autopsy film waiting for an unsuspecting buying to find the truth? Strangely no one is attempting to buy it.
I do not buy the living Elvis evidence. But my Zonian heritage compels me to buy the Panama Canal book, which sells for the low price of one dollar.

Drexel Ave. - Decatur “Yard Sale”

It’s late in the day after the Reading Bowl but a few sales are still around. This one has a boring but odd mix of items collected under the wide eves of this two storied home. Two older women sit watching over the merchandise. There is a lot of stuff here that must have come from a closed business. On a table is a vast assortment of greeting cards still held in a commercial greeting card display. Buyers read them as if they were in a Walgreen’s selecting a birthday card. Other items include two children’s costumes; a penguin and a caterpillar, a plate with an unpleasant looking man drinking wine, a box with a silver case in it labeled Ark of the future, American flag napkins, an item called Baby’s first hand prints and a plastic plate and a drinking vessel in the shape of fish.
I buy nothing.

Sterling Ave. - Candler Park “Moving Sale”

When I arrive at this small sale I find a massage table on the front porch and one of the sellers giving a full body massage to another man. To my relief massaged man does have his clothes on. Most of the stuff here has been picked through. There is a set of snow skis, poles and boots, some women’s clothes, a copy of “The Complete Walker” and “Baking in Small Batches”.
I buy nothing

Ridgewood Ct. - Lake Claire “Estate Sale”?

When I get to the sale site, all I find is a yard with some plastic stemware, some toys an office chair and some other debris loosely scattered around the front yard. No one is in sight. It is difficult to tell if this is a sale or just bad housekeeping.

Sunday- 03/06/05

Wildwood Rd. - Morningside “Moving Sale”?

In front of this house there is a large wooden sign in the yard saying "moving sale". No one is home and there is no evidence of a sale.

Morningside Pl.- Morningside “ Estate Sale”

This is a strange sale. Upon entering this upscale condo I cannot tell if someone is in the process of moving in, moving out or just needing to clean his or her home. I am met by a small terrier at the door, he follows me about the downstairs rooms. The sellers are going about their everyday routines; it smells like they have just cooked an omelet, as there is a faint odor of basil and eggs in the air. Nothing is priced and it is impossible to tell what is for sale. Among the hodgepodge is a set of laser tag pistols, the complete works of Mad magazine on Cd, several Crux Shadow cds, two Lord of the Rings lobby stand up displays (Kate Blanchet and Liv Tyler), a signed Katuba, (either they were divorced or tired of looking at it) an electric knife, a signed copy of Ricky Martin sheet music and several VHS tapes of Dragon Ball Z.
I buy nothing.