Yard sale-ing succeeds with zen attitude

Grant McGee

On Saturday, if all goes as planned, there will be a huge yard sale at the Curry County Fairgrounds. It’s hoped people will come from Curry, Roosevelt, Parmer and Bailey counties as well as from around the region for the event.

It’s not your typical yard sale. The cash raised will go to lend a helping hand to those who were uprooted or affected by the hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The lady of the house and I are going. We’re big fans of yard sales. I get into a zen mode when it comes to these little events where the phrase “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” is put into practice.

Don’t ask me to define “zen.” It’s just a matter of flow. Maybe I should call it “Grant’s Tao of Yard Sales.”

If I am to find something cool at a yard sale I will, if I don’t, I don’t.

I don’t understand the folks who head to yard sales like they’re storming the beaches at Normandy. I’ve run into a couple of those over the years.

What do you say to someone who physically shoves you out of the way to get to something?

Anyway, I don’t go out yard sale-ing expecting to find anything.

The lady of the house and I jot down some addresses in some sort of order weaving through the streets of Clovis with a stop for breakfast somewhere in between.

She looks for dresses, I look for old music or some kind of thingamabob or doohickey I can use around the house.

I have found some memorable bargains at yard sales, but not like the world’s largest uncut ruby like some guy found in a box of rocks at a sale in El Paso or the Van Gogh someone found at a sale in upstate New York.

My memorable ones include a digital camera I picked up for seven bucks.

Some of the functions didn’t work but the bottom line was it still took great digital pictures.

Not long after that I found the power source to operate it at another yard sale.

I’ve learned lessons from yard sale stuff.

I wanted to go on a health kick and drink fresh juices at one time. New juicers sell for around $150. I found one at a yard sale for 10 bucks.

I was sure I was going to take this baby home and discover the secret to boundless energy like I had when I was a teenager. It sat in my closet gathering dust.

If I’d bought a full-priced juicer I would’ve felt bad that I hadn’t used it as much as I thought I would.

The lady of the house is using it now to process this summer’s tomato crop from the garden.

I’ve found good clothes, music I’d long forgotten and missed, a computer monitor for two bucks, decent furniture, good cookware, old radios … I suppose I could go on and on.

I feel kinda sorry for folks who won’t even consider going to a yard sale.

The way I see it, money doesn’t grow on trees, you gotta save it where you can.

Whether or not you like yard sales, I hope you go to this one on Saturday.

You’ll be lending someone a helping hand. Plus, you just might find a treasure you’ve been looking for a long time.

Or a doohickey.

Grant McGee hosts the weekday morning show on KTQM-FM in Clovis. Contact him at: [email protected]