{"id":6566,"date":"2023-07-30T10:46:35","date_gmt":"2023-07-30T14:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=6566"},"modified":"2023-07-30T10:46:38","modified_gmt":"2023-07-30T14:46:38","slug":"yard-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2023\/07\/30\/yard-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Yard Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is a Sunday Story.  No politics here, just memories from a yard sale.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage Addiction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like a lot of Americans, we fell \u201cprey\u201d to the \u201csweet seduction\u201d of storage.  Back in 2012, we first rented the space as a place to put all of Mom and Dad\u2019s remaining furniture when we closed out their lives:  first their assisted living apartment, and then their house in Cincinnati.  There was no reason to have all that furniture and boxes of memorabilia there, so we U-Hauled it all up to Pataskala.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, when the furniture was apportioned out to the family, there was all that open space. It wasn\u2019t in our garage, or even in the shed behind the house.  It was out-of-sight, but only a couple of minutes away.  By 2015 it was no longer \u201cDad\u2019s\u201d storage, it was ours.  And we filled it, 200 square feet of old furniture, boxes of papers, the books and  pictures from my last office, boxes never unpacked from Jenn\u2019s last move, left over T-shirts  from meets, and whatever.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for the next eight years it grew.  All of the stuff that went in the camper, went into storage when five dogs ended our \u201ccamper days\u201d.  We added more old furniture,  and our son Joe\u2019s collected stuff from college apartments and almost annual moves here in Columbus.  And then, Joe moved to California, leaving a lot of \u201cgood stuff\u201d that couldn\u2019t make the trip. After that, we could barely close the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find Joy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We pay storage rental for a whole lot of things that were important to us; once.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marie Kondo had an \u201cimprovement show\u201d called \u201cTidying Up\u201d. Her tag line phrase was , \u201cFeel the item in your hands, and if it sparks joy, keep it\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0There was a lot of stuff that was no longer \u201csparked joy\u201d in storage, all for $140 a month.\u00a0\u00a0It was time for a yard sale!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know how to \u201cthrow\u201d a yard sale.  That was the big fundraiser for the Watkins Cross Country team for decades, literally tons of stuff from the team families, all piled into my garage during the spring and summer, then dragged out in August.  The aprons, stickers, and money rolls were all still in the steel \u201cstrong box\u201d that was stashed in a container in the garage.  So we got together with the neighbors next door, and we had a garage\/yard sale!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U-Haul was still involved.\u00a0\u00a0It took two truckloads from storage to bring all of the sale items back to the house.\u00a0\u00a0And there was lots of \u201cclearing out\u201d, first our garage (there was stuff in the rafters for the early \u201c00\u2019s\u201d), then our backyard shed (the nine foot Christmas tree that five dogs made obsolete), and then \u2013 the storage itself.\u00a0\u00a0And, naturally, it was the hottest day of the summer on \u201cmoving day\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finally, for three days, it was time to say goodbye to things that once gave us joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bomber Jacket  <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I was a kid, I loved watching TV shows about World War II.  One of my favorites was called \u201cTwelve O\u2019Clock High\u201d, a show starring Robert Lansing about American bombers flying out of England to attack Germany (it was also a great 1949 movie starring Gregory Peck).   Ever since then, I wanted a leather \u201cbomber\u201d jacket.  I got my first one just after high school, when wearing my Wyoming Letter Jacket (I still have it) went \u201cout of style\u201d.  That made it into my thirties, when I finally needed a \u201cskosh\u201d more room.  My second bomber jacket made it forty years.  It was my go-to \u201ccool\u201d jacket from November to March, a sure sign that winter was here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the zipper was worn, and I needed more \u201cskosh\u201d in my older age.  It spent the last couple winters in the closet.  I got a new one last Christmas, leather and fur and roomy. So my old bomber jacket went in the sale. I watched it go out of the garage on the shoulders of a teenager, smiling from ear to ear, even if the zipper was sticky, and he didn\u2019t know how to \u201cpop\u201d the collar.  He didn\u2019t have the \u201cstyle\u201d yet (I almost got up to fix it), but it\u2019s got a new life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Camper<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And there was all of the camper gear.  Jenn and I bought a camper in 2017 and spent a winter in Florida.  But health problems interfered with the next couple years, and then there was Covid.  And finally we went from one dog to five, and there was no room with five dogs.  So we sold the camper in the summer of 2020, but kept a lot of the gear.  We were going to get a bigger RV, one that all the dogs could travel in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that never happened, and the camper gear didn\u2019t \u201chold joy\u201d anymore.\u00a0\u00a0It all went in the sale.\u00a0 The night before, I had a fluke conversation at the Hardware store. The cashier showing me pictures of her \u201cformer\u201d camper, exploded from a faulty refrigerator.\u00a0\u00a0Luckily no one was in it, though it burned out their detached garage.\u00a0\u00a0She was picking up her new camper on Saturday, and needed almost everything from kitchen utensils to sewer hookups.\u00a0\u00a0And we had them.\u00a0\u00a0She and her husband came over and our camper \u201cstuff\u201d got new life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backpack<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But the biggest \u201cregret\u201d of the sale:\u00a0\u00a0I sold my backpacking equipment.\u00a0\u00a0I hiked the Rockies and the Appalachians, on my own, with friends, and of course, with Scouts.\u00a0\u00a0I had some of the best equipment I could get, a Kelty Pack, a North Face tent and down sleeping bag; the stuff needed to get me over the next mountain to that night\u2019s campsite.\u00a0\u00a0All of the stories, from bears to rattlesnakes to the attack of the raccoons near the Kangamangus Highway in New Hampshire, were wrapped up in that gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But track and field took up all of my free time.  Instead of trekking mountain ridges, I was taking kids to National meets all over the country. And then there was my health, just the \u201cprice\u201d of getting older, that made single treks less appealing.  And finally my \u201cgear\u201d was stashed in the rafters of the garage, more than two decades since my last excursion.  Backpacking through the wilderness was a part of my past, but not my future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My good down bag became a home to mice.\u00a0\u00a0But the tent and the backpack were still good, and I put it\u00a0\u00a0and the compass, stove, and canteen all in the sale.\u00a0\u00a0A\u00a0\u00a0man bought it for his grandchildren, just entering Scouting.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s more equipment than they can handle, but I hope it encourages them to find the joy of the wilderness as I did.\u00a0\u00a0It was a reality shock when he picked up my hard-earned gear, and walked away.\u00a0\u00a0No more frozen mountain camps in June in Colorado, or \u201cbillion\u201d star nights on a ridge in New Mexico.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life Changes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And there were bins of artificial flowers, the remnants of our wedding back in 2012.  Jenn and I threw a great party, and had a great time planning our wedding together.  The flowers were wonderful; we decorated Salt Fork Lake Lodge so well that what didn\u2019t come home stayed up on their walls for years.  But our fall wedding was definitely a one-of-a-kind thing.  I hope the lady who bought them puts them to great use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s lots of empty plastic bins in the garage.\u00a0\u00a0The rafters are empty.\u00a0\u00a0The backyard shed is clearer than the day after it was built.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s still lots of memories to get out of storage, but the monthly bill is strong encouragement to get it done.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ll get rid of some, then absorb the rest into storage here.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s more to just saving money here.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s about a changing life, and finding new joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday Story Series<\/h5>\n\n\n\n