Gas shortages, economic meltdown, faux fruit and little ironies..

The gas crisis in Atlanta continues. I filled my tank returning from Charleston and it’s still a little more than half filled week later. I’m not yet desperate but I don’t know of any nearby stations with gas and those further out have drivers waiting in line for over an hour. So this morning I haul the bike out on the street, pack my camera in the handlebar pouch and go. I’m able to hit half a dozen sales before noon.

McLendon Ave. - Lake Claire “Yard Sale”

This was a small sale in the front yard and driveway of a Tudor bungalow. Here I found plastic bags filled with miniature faux fruit, a trio of monkey hand puppets, a box of pewter drawer pulls, a bin filled with tiny garden tools of undetermined use and some tiny lawn furniture that no human could sit in. In a selection of books was a copy of “One Nation Under Debt”. In the yard under the shade of a small dogwood one of the sellers was arranging a collection of souvenir plates and ashtrays. Among them were tokens from Singapore, the Vatican and the USA Bicentennial
I bought nothing.



Basket of tiny tools.















Today's first faux fruit.



















Ridgecrest Ave. – Lake Claire “Yard Sales”

Pedaling further uphill I came across a small sale and a medium sized sale across the street from each other. The smaller sale mostly featured women and children’s clothing. The larger sale hade a number of tables arranged in the yard of a brick bungalow and a lot of stuff scattered across the grass. The centerpiece of this sale was a single solar panel in the middle of the sale hooked up to a ceiling fan mounted on a wooden bracket constructed of two by fours. The solar panel was aimed towards the morning sun and the fan was turning briskly. But the low placement of the fan four feet from the grass meant only plants and earthworms enjoys its cooling breeze. But it was an appropriate item to come across considering Atlanta's current energy crisis. Sadly no buyers seemed interested in either the solar panel or the fan. Other stuff collected in the yard included a plastic bag of full sized faux oranges (perhaps a theme for today) a framed photograph of an outhouse, a old massive IBM Selectric typewriter, a steam cleaner, a huge propane outdoor heating tower, toys, disassembled lighting fixtures and women’s shoes.
I bought nothing.







Solar panel at work.


















More faux fruit.















East Lake Dr. – Druid Hills “Yard Sale”

For some reason this enclave between Lake Claire and Decatur is considered part of Druid Hills so I guess this sale was part of the Druid Hills Community Sale day, which I will cover, in a later post. But I’m mentioning it now since it was on my bike route.
Here I found a line of tables going down a long driveway leading to a stately brick bungalow. A jumbled assemblage included old house wares, avocado green small appliances, ugly ceramic cats, a framed print of the partying Bama red elephant, old televisions and boxes of tangled Xmas décor. I was impressed that one o the TV’s for sale was the same RCA model I had purchased over 20 years ago. The seller said it still worked but didn’t have a remote for it. The ironic item of this sale was a toy car set that came in a plastic gasoline can. This was the closest thing anyone in this city saw of gasoline today.
I bought nothing.


Children's gas can.

















Ugly cats.

















Flora Ave. - Edgewood “Yard sale”

I rode downhill and across DeKalb Ave into Edgewood to visit this sale held on the front porch of a small frame home.
Here a tattooed man presided over an unopened collection of Star Wars figures, some CD, men’s clothing and baby items. This was the classic ‘it’s time to get over the things of your youth and move on to raising you kid sales’. The Mom or the baby were not in sight. The ironic item of this sale was one book sitting alone on the porch entitled “You Are Being Lied To”
I bought a nice black short sleeve shirt and took a hand full of coverless CDs he was giving away.
I took CDs by the Pogues, The Smiths, Violent Femmes, Beastie Boys and The White Lines. I declined to take any of the plentiful Iron Maiden recordings here.







Degress Ave – Inman Park “Yard Sales”

There were two sales on this short street off DeKalb Ave. The first was a tiny sale in the front yard of an old Stone church that had been converted into a private home. The only stuff here was a small assortment of items laid out of a tarp in front of the church. On the tarp was more faux fruit, an air mattress and a copy of Josef Koudelka’s book of photographs entitled “Chaos.
I bought nothing.












Images of chaos and an inflatable bed.

















The second sale was down the street and visible from the first sale. Here was a larger collection of stuff gathered in the front yard of a brick bungalow. Among the clutter here were three disassembled ceiling fans, a primitive mask of unknown origin, clothing and a large selection of cutlery.
I bought nothing.




















Mansfield Ave.- Candler Park “Yard Sale”

Heading back toward home I stopped at one final sale near Little Five Points. I visited a sale at this location last year and the sellers remembered me from my prior visit when I brought out my camera. They reminded me that when I visited then they were poking about the web on a laptop on their porch and visited my site while I took photos. They were not online today but had a few of the same items I saw last year. But the large collection of dogs painting that I documented then was gone. This years items included a large selection of art supplies, women’s clothing and three ceramic pigs.
Among some books I found “Really Important Stuff”, “A Wellness Way of Life” and a few biology textbooks.
I bought nothing.






Divestments of an artist.