By Lee Scott
It has begun! Spring has arrived and with it the annual ritual known as the “yard sale.”
This tradition has been going on for years. There may be some serious bird watchers who will disagree with me and say the sightings of the first ruby-throated hummingbird or the black-and-white warblers are the real indications of spring. But they are wrong.
It is the sighting of the first yard sale sign.
Oh, the beauty of the large black letters outlining the address, date and time; and better yet, the signs that read “Neighborhood Yard Sale.”
Spring is the time of year for people to come out of their winter hibernation. Neighbors and friends vie to get the best bargain, especially at those large block yard sales.
These community sales make sense as neighbors combine forces for advertising and pull in many customers, like me.
But I have learned through the years that the advertised hours at most yard sales are rarely honored. A recent yard sale I attended which was supposed to have started at 9 a.m. was already well in progress when I arrived a few minutes after 9. People were walking off with $25 bicycles, $10 Christmas trees and $5 lamps. I also noticed some serious shoppers double teaming so they could spread out and do reconnaissance for one another. Man, I wish I had thought of that idea.
As it is, there is nothing I really need, but the pull of the yard sign sale is too much for me.
One week ago, I found myself turning my bicycle around the moment I spotted the yard sale sign.
“Oh,” I said to myself, “I’ll just browse.”
The ceramic frog sitting in my front garden is evidence that I did not just browse. How could I say no to a $5 item? And it did not matter that I was without cash on me because my girlfriend Chris was right there willing to loan me the $5.
Karma. I was destined to own that frog. Even my spouse was seduced recently when he spotted a yard sale sign that said “All tools must go.”
So, despite the migrating birds, Passover and Easter, the true universal sign of spring is here. Grab some cash, take your car, and get out there.
But be careful when driving around neighborhoods. There are cars making sudden U-turns and stopping abruptly, and after all, that car may be yours.
