Living in the Center of the Universe - Part Five

Going...

For Florida it was a very clear and cold morning with temperatures in the thirties.  It felt glorious.  After waking early and running around to finish up what I could  for the sale it felt like Springtime in New York.  Luckily for me the cold delayed the usual throng of garage sale enthusiasts.  I unlocked the door to find only two women standing in my driveway.  One of them handed me a dime she had found lying there.  A mother and her grown daughter, nice ladies.  Opening my home to them they  went to work in hopes of finding the bargains they needed.  They needed shelves and immediately bought all of mine.   

What do you do when the first sale of the day takes all of the places  on which all of your things are sitting?  I suppose I could’ve said wait until Saturday to get them but more people were coming in and it was a sale and I had cash in hand and they were nice about it and helped put the stuff on the shelves on the floor and on the counters and on the table and look at the dust behind the place where the shelves used to be, I need a broom quick  and more people were coming in and they were strangers in my home asking what this box from Spain cost and what about that platter that I bought at Crate and Barrel and that platter that I served Em’s first birthday cake on and a box of children’s books for $30 that cost hundreds over the course of a little girl learning how to read and love books and were in wonderful condition because isn’t that how you’re supposed to treat your books and more people were coming saying Hello We’ve missed you and I could give them no time because more people were coming and the bed was sold and dismantled and don’t worry we’ll figure out where we’ll sleep tonight, and buckets of clothes for a dollar each but wait that table cloth wasn’t supposed to be in there, but you said everything in that closet was a dollar and my son in Montana who lives on an elk ranch would love the embroidered elks. He Would? Okay take it, what about this stack of books for ten dollars?  Ten? Books?  They were great books but usually those are left for last and weigh a lot and okay go ahead Hey Em are you selling these art books? What? No!  But we already bought them! You did? Yes that’s why I’m guarding them, wait a minute those Narnia books are $10 by themselves, they are worthless open, I’m not going to fight you over my stuff, no, okay how about $20 but you said you bought them already...what? More people are pouring in the door. Take them and go. 

All day long for two days, what happened to that Blue bowl, did you sell it? No I didn’t . It’s gone. The big beautiful clay bowl my friend Mike crafted and I filled each year for family Easter dinner with rice, asparagus and mint salad? It’s gone.  Em your violin! Put it under the sheet You should put this somewhere safe it looks like personal letters from a family member What are you doing that was put away behind the barrier get out of there the things were topsy turvy Em’s coming home from the hospital dress, my grandad’s love letters, my Mother’s skirt from Panama how dare you open that, I could see it though you should put it somewhere safe like under this sheet where it was? I want to see this rug I’ll give you $20 for since it will only be outside at my house it’s a good rug roll it out on the driveway no I can’t do less than $60 it is wool no too much okay fine Just keep going decide sell sell price it Stack ‘em High Sell 'em Cheap here’s my card if it doesn’t all sell I’ll buy it and cart it off for you No time to feel keep going decide price sell decide sell decide keep sell.  

 I silently thanked that customer who unrolled the carpet on the driveway when the day was over and four of us gathered under a high Florida sky to eat lunch at dinnertime and hold on to the earth for a few moments.  Drifting away in listless cirrus rainbows amid the rustling of the palms a momentary reverie was broken by the arrival a friend I had missed dearly.  Even at this moment I ache knowing that I was not able to give her my Selfless attention since the spell was broken and I went back into work mode.