Cold and Fog

He had four jukeboxes (not for sale) and one old fridge painted like a jukebox (this for sale, and quite a treasure for $25). His name was Ron, and after living in Boone for many years he was selling his home and moving to Florida. Nice, quirky guy who also had a fabulous collection classic vinyl albums.

A dear friend is soon to be gifted some Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, this despite the fact that he’s “un liked” himself from the Secondhand Rosies Facebook page. I don’t hold grudges, and I understand that many of our posts may seem pesky to him.

But, I digress, totally. The point of telling about Ron’s sale begins with the journey to FIND the dang thing.

It was a foggy and cold summer morning, as they say…..with yard sale offerings as dismal as the weather. I drove all over Perkinsville looking for the sale that was listed as a moving sale near the new High School. Round and round I went, up and down several streets, (I’d been warned at a sale on Hwy 421 that others had been searching for this same sale). One more dead end, and a turn around in a driveway with a truck that bore the bumper sticker “I’m happy as a carp in a septic tank”, viola! This mantra was SO fitting.

Now, I’m driving UP and DOWN the streets chanting “I’m happy as a carp in a septic tank”….la la la….

Dead end in the High School parking lot, but I can SEE the appointed street, but can’t get through the HS exit. “I’m happy as a carp in a septic tank”……la la la…faster, faster, and add an expletive to the mix.

Bingo, I finally find the sale, but no signs, banners, balloons, or even a sign of life, but I get out anyway, and go up to the door. Yup, this is it, and I take a tour of the jukebox collection, see photos of Ron’s dogs, and walk away with Frank and Perry.

The poor folks at Mountain Oil parking lot were nearly drenched, but they’d brought plenty of plastic tarps. It was there I scored a charming folk art piece. Hand made stained glass mermaid/angel/goddess??? Funky cool, and one dollar.

The ladies with the best ad I’ve seen all year were next on the list, and they were delighted to learn that Secondhand Rosies had posted their ad on the Facebook page. They danced around and hugged me, and one even called her daughter in Florida to tell her the news. Since they’d started on Friday they were about sold out, but it was worth the stop just to meet these lovely ladies.

I’d been to the Holy Cross sale on opening day, Thursday, but it was early and I thought, “what the heck, it IS 75% off today”, so off I wandered back to beautiful Valle Crucis.
Sure enough, the place was picked over, but I did find a few odds and ends for almost giveaway prices. The best show in town was the camaraderie between the ladies working the basement where the clothing was displayed. After three days of dealing with hoards of people they were punchy, and some of the ladies began to model the leftover clothing; long john’s and frumpy dresses, tacky purses, and garish high heels, and sporting some swift runway moves. Good fun, good cause.

The valley was still shrouded in fog when I left, satisfied enough to call it a day, and yes, feeling as happy as a carp in a septic tank.