I took some stuff over on Thursday night to add to the sale and to help move stuff up from the barn. It didn't take very long to do, and I ran back home to get the last of what I was going to sell. Jeff decided to come with me on the return journey and on the way he asked me what it was like at Granny's house now. What was different, had the furniture moved etc. I didn't really know what to say. I just told him, "It's a little sad." He asked what I meant but I couldn't explain it and told him he'd have to see for himself. So, we spent a few minutes looking around the rooms a little and his only comment was how different everything was from before. Well, we hung around long enough that when we went out to unload the truck someone driving by that saw the garage door up and the lights on pulled in and asked to look around. She oohed and ahhed about everything and went through all of the rooms many times and wanted to know a little history about it all. A few of the items she picked up and asked about caused a little tug at me. I began to think that it might be pretty difficult to let go of things, but truthfully I had been through the house so many times and had what I wanted that letting go just wasn't that hard. (Mostly. More on that later....) She looked and looked and piled some stuff up and paid for it and with a promise to return in the morning she was off. And Jeff and I headed for home, about 2 hours after arriving to do a 3 minute job.
It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round. I think we met one of each kind this weekend. Old and young, near and far, collectors and the casually interested, we really met a lot of interesting people over the weekend. Friday was a steady stream of people all day long, with a big rush I'm told early on before I arrived including my rather eccentric shopper from the night before. I had a good time meeting people and hearing and telling stories, enjoyed helping people with their purchases and so on. I really enjoyed the moment of panic when Richard said I need your help, and proceeded to tell me that some man said "Why don't you give me one price on all this here." (Making a big motion with his arm). I think Richard got a chuckle from the look on my face, (I didn't know what to say). All of what? I asked. Well, everything on this table, on those shelves, in the toolbox, you know, everything. Wholly Crap! (not speaking of the holiness of the crap you understand, but rather in its entirety). So we came up with a price and were once again shocked when he said, "OK", and then shock dissolved into dismay when we realized we had to box all of this up somehow and then load it all into his Cadillac Escalade. I don't know how it all fit in the vehicle. I think Cadillacs must be bigger on the inside than they appear on the outside. The day passed by quickly and we all thought it went pretty well.
Saturday was a different story altogether. No one showed up until 9:30 or so. Sheila and I had arrived at about the same time that morning, 6:30, in anticipation of the flood of people that would be there like the day before. I also wanted to get the tractor started up and moved out by the road. Eventually we did get a trickle of steady traffic and the day went by. Nothing nearly as exciting as the day before though. It was very interesting to me some of the things that didn't seem to generate any interest at all. There were just a few pieces of furniture to sell, but some of them were really nice pieces and I thought they would get snatched up right away and for some reason they just sat there. Eventually most of it went, but it was just strange to me what some people would pass over with hardly a glance. Of course, there was a lot of stuff that I thought was junk that got a lot of interest and flew out the door quickly. The toolbox got a lot of looks. "Not for sale." They were short looks.......
A typical conversation about the house....
Is the house for sale too?
Yes, but it is currently under contract. If the contract should not work out then the house will be on the market in about 3 weeks.
So, why aren't one of you buying it? -or-
So, which one of you has the contract?
I do. -or-
My little brother does.
Sure is a beautiful place. Did you live here?
I grew up here.
That's just a sampling, there were many variations on that theme. A lot of people wanted the bell in the backyard too. It was just as not for sale as the toolbox was. It was a good weekend. A good time to be with family again. Somebody asked about the dining room table, if one of us was going to keep it. I said yes, I am. He said that's good, some furniture is just furniture, but the table that you sat down at as a family and ate together, that's where the memories are made. It's a very biblical thought actually, reclining at the table together. So, I got to thinking about the table a little. I don't know how long it's been there, but I know that I can't remember it not being there. All that means is that there were hundreds of meals at that table with my family and with them are the memories as well. There is still some stuff left, but not a whole lot I guess, compared to before the sale. I'm going to try to E-bay a few items, see how that goes. A lot of memories came up and were spoken of, and a lot of memories (memorable items) went out the door, and it wasn't that hard letting go. Except for one thing, one small thing. There's always that one thing isn't there? And of course it was a surprise that this thing was so hard to let go of.
The mailman stopped by and asked about the tractor. We talked for a bit and he went on his way continuing his route. He seemed interested but it was hard to tell how much. We had seen a lot of people that seemed interested in something or another but just weren't buying. Well, I was a little bit surprised when he came back at the end of the day, that is, about 1:00pm. He asked a question or two and then asked if he could hear it run, so I started it for him and raised the lift, started the blades of the brush hog, etc. We did a little jawin' about the price and by 1:30 the tractor was sold.
As I was walking back to the house with 100 dollars down money Tandy asked me if he bought it. I think I told her, yes he did, but I don't remember. Suddenly I felt as though the wind was knocked out of me, and I just wanted to sit down and cry. Most of it passed just as suddenly as it came on me, but not all. I don't know why either. That was a 40 acre tractor on a 5 acre plot. There was no need to hang on to it, it was far too big for any job on that land. Dad had that one I think because it reminded him of, or was part of, his growing up. Maybe it was because it was dad's tractor. Maybe because that's where it belonged even though we didn't need it. Maybe it's because I can picture my dad "tinkering" with it and working around the yard with it. Maybe because the sights and smells associated with tractors and tools remind me of dad. I don't know why but I know I wasn't the only one that was hurt by this one. I think I said that it felt like some little part of dad within me was going away, lost. Funny how such strong feelings can be attached to objects. 
Richard and I had to wait around a little while for the man to return with a trailer to pick it up. We had a distraction or two while we were waiting which helped some and by the time it was loaded on the trailer and all the implements loaded we didn't feel quite as bad as we did at first. In fact, Richard commented that it wasn't nearly as hard to do as we thought it would be. We pulled a few things inside and locked up. My big brother gave me a hug when we were done. The perfect end of a good weekend.
Craig
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1 comment:
When we wer ein town for the wedding, Josh and I spent an afternoon walking around the house and looking around (Josh was salivating over the tractor, but we don't need it for .35 acres!). We didn't go in the house- and I'm glad. It's amazing how different it feels, just from the outside. It was nice, though to get to spend the time sifting through old memories and tucking them away.
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