One Man's Trash...

This old trunk was my "trash" and it found a new home, where it was considered a "treasure"

The old yaw is this:  "One man's trash is another man's treasure.

I believe that with all my heart and soul.  We have had stuff in storage, stuff in the basement, stuff in the closets and it is long past time to be rid of it.  People tell us, "Have a yard sale!" but that doesn't trip my trigger.  I'd much prefer to give it here or there and have someone find what they consider to be a treasure!

Case in point:  The trunk in the above photo was given to me and I no longer have a good use for it.  When I asked one of my shiniest friends if she would like to have it, I felt all warm and fuzzy that it had found a good home and would be well cared for AND USED.

The past few days here have seen the Mother of all garage sales...The Trail of Treasures has featured sales from the corner of our state along Highway 136 clear to another small town many miles away.  Our little South East Nebraska Community Action Center's Advisory Board played host to the many eager shoppers who came to Tecumseh, NE to see what treasures lay in wait for them.  We had hot spiced cider, cookies and conversation as people signed in.

There were folks from Wisconsin, Kansas, all over SE Nebraska and some from right here in town!  It was fascinating to listen to their stories.  Some shoppers had  specific items in mind; others just enjoyed snooping through piles of furniture, household goods or tools to see what struck their fancy!

One of the most memorable was a dear lady from Lincoln, NE.  Her husband has a serious illness and she works in an office.  Her passion is making quilts for doll beds.  She wanted to find old doll beds but would be open to finding whatever she could use to make the little beds and she was eager to find fabric to use for the quilts.  This precious soul took the time to show us the prize winning quilts that had won a wad of ca$h for her.  Not only that, she had photos of many of her doll beds!

The passion this lady has for her work/play just oozed out of every one of her pores.  When she was asked about her quilts her face lit up as if she were facing a Nebraska sunrise!  She wanted to share her passion and we all were eager to hear everything about it.

There were a few people who came in, stuck their noses in the air and backed out.  Those were the introverts who did not wish to bother with conversation or cider!  We just told one another that those folks were NOT our circus and those were NOT our monkeys!

I felt as if The Normanator and I were the real winners here.  The good people from the Historical Society came to our home, carried stuff up and out that had taken up space in our basement.  These were things we no longer loved or used or needed.  We could help the Historical Society bring in a few coins for their project:  a museum.

Next October we will do this all again.  The big difference?  Kevin thinks we should serve hot cider and doughnuts!  Here's hoping we have even bigger crowds of shoppers and even more desirable "stuff"  !

Connie Baum