Let's All Go A-Rummaging

Maybe I should have been called "Second Hand Rose." I love the hell out of rummage sales and garage sales and flea markets and Ebay.

Is it the thrill of the chase? The belief that the one thing I've been looking for all of my life will be at the next sale I go to?

When I was a young lass, my sister used to create scavenger hunts to entertain the younger crowd. She would leave clues for us to follow and at the end, there would be some sort of prize. I used to love trying to decode the messages. To this day, I enjoy solving puzzles. Is this the same gene that makes me want to seek out a gem from among all the crap?

And yes, Virginia, there is a lot of crap at these sales.

Then, just when you are about to give up, you find something amazing. Like the late 1940's Three Little Kittens set that's hanging in my kitchen. Or the 1950's Bopp Decker dishes. Or the souvenirs from faraway lands I will never visit. My house is home to kitsch of all kinds. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), my husband collects things, too. Which is why in our back room (which serves as a mini man cave), there are little statues of all of the presidents up through Lyndon Johnson, various maps, and a framed photo of the Elvis stamp.

It may be an addiction. But I don't care. I gotta go take my shower and get ready. There's a rummage sale today, and it's starting and I don't want to miss anything.

Besides, it's in Westlake, and those suburban folks always get rid of good stuff...