What luck to be back home for the annual Autumn Creek neighborhood garage sale! Every year, the week after school gets out, the mothers of our neighborhood pull out the price tag stickers, the lawn chairs, and the fans, open their garage doors and set up camp. Then they'll sit for a solid 3 days, with their coke and iced tea, and chat with everyone and anyone who comes their way.
Garage sales are a wonder to me. We sit outside, in the humid and muggy Ohio-ness, melting in our garages, no less, selling what we don't have room for, what we should have thrown out years ago, things that we bought on mail order that didn't really work, things we forgot where they came from, things we don't want the kids to see we're trying to sell, and for junk change. For a mere quarter, for a dollar here or there.
And as I walked home this morning with the little ones, a bag full of eyelet lace and ribbon that I had paid $.25 for, I realized that its not about making any money at all. Its for the sense of Midwest community in walking the whole neighborhood over and seeing everyone that you haven't seen all winter. Its to catch up on everyone's life, to see how big their baby has gotten, to see what they've done with the house, to welcome in the summer after a whole season of staying indoors.
I guess its sweet how they've all kept up on my life, though I haven't really seen the neighborhood like this for atleast 4 years. I think I babysat for atleast half of the neighborhood; they've seen me outside getting pictures for Prom or Homecoming, they've heard me giggling on the phone on our porch swing for hours, seen me on the steps when I was dropped off after dates, after curfew. They've gratiously bought grapefruit and oranges when the choir was fundraising, and let us use their driveways when we hosted parties.
And with every friendly comment along the lines of "Camille, you know you have to get married soon, because your dad's almost done with the gazebo", I smile and think, "I know. I'm working on it. I'd love to be inviting you to my reception in the backyard, I'd love to settle down in the cute little house next to yours, and then I'd be buying all of your baby swings, and high chairs, and footie pajamas at next year's garage sale. "Do you have a boyfriend yet?", "I should set you up with my nephew while your in town", "You better get started soon if you want a big family too". Oh, dear neighbors of Fairborn Ohio, thank you for watching out for me. You're cute. And I just never get tired of hearing it, I guess!
1 comment:
It's nice that you can have a positive perspective about people back home. I for one never really enjoyed the comments about how I should be getting married. I try my best not to tell people how to live their lives, and expect the same courtesy. Just because I am unmarried does not make me less of an adult.
I guess for me, I've never had a hometown for very long - it's changed so many times, I never "grew up" in one place. But that's how I like it. I like that I've lived so many places.
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