I went yard sale hunting this weekend, as I tend to do when I don't have much else to keep me at home or in bed on a Saturday morning. I fancy myself quite the savvy yard sale girl and I have been known to come home with more than enough things to decorate, paint, sew, or share with only five dollars and some change. This Saturday morning I made myself some coffee, got out of bed somewhat early, and headed out to see what I could find. Apparently, this weekend was not to be the stuff of yard sale legends as others have been. The first one I found had mostly baby clothes and toys, nothing a girl like myself would find very useful. The second one had some games (Girl Talk was particularly tempting) and costume jewelry, again nothing I could validate purchasing however. But the third one, that magical number three. It wasn't so much as what I purchased at this yard sale as what I walked away with that made this stop so interesting and worth sharing.
The woman was probably in her mid to late forties, small, with very tanned skin and short hair. She was a fireball, running around picking things up, placing tags on household objects, chatting and bartering like a pro. She had some amazingly interesting things for sale; southwestern artwork, coffee mugs of all types and shapes, candles and holders, a bamboo designed shower curtain, dumbells, books...the list could go on and on. She was chatting with another customer, an older man looking for an air conditioning unit, and I overheard her say something about living in Arizona. So naturally I had to interject, as I am known to do when it comes to...ok anything. "Where in Arizona did you live?" I asked.
"Flagstaff, northern state."
"Oh," I smiled, "I used to live there when I was a kid! I still go back as much as I can."
"I went to college there," She smiled back, "lets see, I was there in 1982 until about 90 or so."
I had obviously been wrong about her age.
"My parents went there too," I was getting excited, "my mom use to own a little vintage clothing shop at the bottom floor of the Monte Vista...."
"Past Times." She said. I was stunned. She actually knew of the shop? No one I had ever met in all of my years of traveling who had ever spent time in Flagstaff EVER knew of the shop. It had not been open very long before my parents divorced and it was, lets be honest, a long time ago.
"Yes! I can't believe you knew if it!"
"Oh honey, I remember that shop, I knew the girl who helped man the shop."
"Dawn?" I reached far back into my memory. I had only been seven or eight when the girl worked there.
"Dawn."
We continued talking about things she remembered and things I remembered, how the town was now, when I had last been back and so on. Of course eventually she asked, "So how did you end up in Rapid City?" All the while we were talking she was still moving, still bounding around the yard after customers, her thin arms in perpetual motion. I proceeded to tell her what I do for a living, that my job brought me to Rapid City, that I just quit my job and was focusing on myself for a while, "That's lovely," she said, "Do you like it here?"
"Sometimes." I said.
"Well then do you plan to move again?" She asked, finally stopping and looking at me right in eyes.
"I would like to," I shrugged, "eventually."
"Well if you don't like it here then why are you here?"
"I have reasons to be here, I have a job and I have an apartment..."
"Bullshit," she laughed, "those things can be replaced. You have to do better than that."
So I gave her another reason why I was here, a little more personal of a reason. And no, my dears, I will not share that with you here. However, I am sure it must have been a very good reason, because she smiled and placed her hand on my arm,
"So it seems to me that you are exactly where you ought to be." She smiled. I probably blushed, I thought people were watching us at this point, "don't ever let money or things keep you from what you want, and don't overlook the possibilities that are sometimes right in front of you. You'll miss out."
"Well, I guess I already knew that." I laughed, "I just forget sometimes."
"Where would you like to go when you leave here?" She asked. I thought for a moment, and told her. She smiled again and laughed out loud, "brand new and far away, just how I like it!" And again, no, that answer will not be shared quite yet. The woman turned, obviously feeling that our conversation was at an end. As she walked away to go attend to the lives of other customers she said, "I think you have a lot ahead of you missy. I can see it in your eyes. You go where you want and be with who you want and don't you even let anyone or anything stop you, especially money, or you'll end up dead before you're 40."
I came home with a new shower curtain and a mug with Stonehenge on it.
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