Rummage Sale Smiles

It's a chilly Saturday morning, your favorite cup of coffee is in your right hand, you steer with your left...your inner navigation system is searching frantically....for the next Rummage Sale. You look ahead to your right, there are lots of cars parked in front of that building...is that a sign you see? Yes...yes! A sale. You drive around until you find a parking spot...any spot will do because the excitement is building and you can't wait to get in there and see what treasures lie waiting.

I had just such an experience yesterday. I actually knew about this particular sale, but the feeling you get in your gut when you see all those cars and think to yourself, I should have come earlier...well, that's the same whether or not you were planning on attending the sale or not. You see it up ahead, and you feel the anticipation. I was hoping for a great find, and I wasn't disappointed.

My first run is always to the books. You never know what treasures you might find there, discarded from someones personal library. Usually they aren't valuable books I find, not in the traditional sense, but they are of value to me because of the topic or because of the unique bindings. Sometimes a book can just be beautiful from the outside and I'll have to have it. For the most part, I'm fussy about appearance and will hold out for a book in good condition, even if it takes years for me to find it. We went by the books, my daughter holding on tightly to my arm. It was so crowded, it was difficult to see anything. I told her we should skip to something else and we'd come back to the books later, which ended up to be great fortune.

She found a toy (a very large, plastic manta ray) that she just had to have, and for a dollar, I couldn't say no. She loves dinosaurs, sharks, snakes, bugs, spiders, alligators, and all other creepy things. She also loves Barbie. She's eclectic, and that is alright by me. As she clutched her prize, we made our way back to the book section. There were still far too many people for me to get too close, however, someone had moved a few books around and right on the top of a pile of books right in front of me was a copy of The Personal History of Henry the Eighth by Francis Hackett. The cover was in great condition, and the book was just as great. I grabbed it so fast, even if someone else had dared to be looking at it, they wouldn't have had a chance! I brought it with me to work today, so I could have it near me. I figure if I am ever having a slow day....well, a girl needs good reading material near her at all times, doesn't she? My husband also thinks I have far too many books at home, thus the Kindle purchase this past Christmas, but that's another blog altogether!

I also turned to my left and found a brand new, hand bound journal with hand made paper. It's just gorgeous and I HAD to have it! I felt like I had struck gold, and really, they were nothing more than a book of blank pages and an old history on a king I've read far too much about over the years, but it thrilled me beyond imagining. Rummage sale finds can really put a smile on your face. No matter what your "thing," there is something for everyone. (There was a whole table of cows I noticed in the housewares...maybe someone got sick of their cow collection and was moving on to pigs or roosters...and maybe someone found those cows and was thrilled with that find, too.)

What this whole blithering blog is trying to say is it's the simple things in life that put the biggest smile on your face. Enjoy those Saturday morning drives...sip that coffee, and get out there and find some treasure for a dollar or two.

You never know what you might find. You might even find that smile you lost along the way, too!