One more day until the weekend. Not that I can get out, there's lots to be done, but there are the garage sales and I generally like to make time for them. Garage sale season begun roughly around April 18, then kicked off properly the weekend of the 25th with the "Good Samaritan" rummage sale in Kensington.

That one draws the crowds. Lineups of 2 - 300 people before it even starts. 

So far there've been no great treasures, despite lots of searching. Or one treasure, almost, but I'll come to that.

The Good Samaritan sale in Kensington is one of the biggest and best rummage sales in the city. You can tell by the lineup. If you're not there by 8:00 AM, 8:15 at the latest you won't get a reasonable place in line. The sale starts at 9:00 AM. The die-hard dealers and flea market vendors are there by  7:00, some will even go so far as to spend the night.

It's a good sale.

Treasures vary. There's the room filled with collectables, antiques, a room filled with furniture, childrens toys, books and housewares, and another room (Gymnasium) filled with clothing. 

Prices are reasonable.

And, as always, when at 9:00 AM they open the doors (never early) it's pandemonium. Imagine that God had come to earth for one day only to heal the sick and the ugly and you'll have a pretty good idea of the crowd. People jostling to rummage through clothing, pushing and shoving to get a look into the display cases, grabbing things they're not sure they want, but they're swept up in the confusion and if you don't grab it, and grab it quick, somebody else will....

I can only take it for half an hour before I begin to get claustrophobic. One too many Granny's elbows, one too many dealers trying to push past you, I've seen it all and it's time to leave....

A Medalta #3 crock is my entire haul this year. Modest, poor even compared to other years but that's not a reflection on the sale, just my increasingly high standards and diminishing space.

A few more sales last weekend, again nothing too exciting, some mixed media art supplies but I'm running out of room to store all these treasures, a couple of antique automobile horns, and on Sunday, when all the sales are almost done I think to stop at a benefit for the Mustard Seed on Memorial Drive. It's habit, there's no hope of treasures here, not at this hour on a Sunday, but poking around I notice an antique iron safe, big round cast iron wheels, a "No Combination, Offers?" sign taped to the top. 

This is the treasure of the weekend. Of the season, even. Barely believing my good fortune I find one of the hosts and make my offer, seal the deal when a blonde girl appears out of nowhere:

"It's been sold. I've already bought it. Sorry...."

Now she's trying to sound apologetic, but really it's a photo-finish, she, like me, has her money in her hand and has found a different salesperson to do the deal with, my salesperson is confused, she's already sold it to me, maybe I'm with the blonde...?

I'm not with the homely blonde but I'm seized with an irrational urge to throttle her, she doesn't seem genuine in her apology, the fact that she's still holding her cash still tells me the deal isn't done, that she's first in her eyes only, but I'm not going to dicker or fight (sorely tempted as I am) and accept that this is one treasure I've missed. 

The rest of the week has been spent in mourning. The antique safe, locked and without combination, a diversion that would entertain the children for weeks, months even. I'm pretty sure I could crack the combination within an hour, but that would defeat the purpose, I would have placed it in the kids room, speculated upon it's contents with them and allowed them to while away their free time trying to crack it.

And when finally we did crack it, and sold the gold bars and junk bonds, the diamonds and jewels that were doubtless still safely inside, we'd have a safe of our very own to store our treasures in - X-Box 360 games, Fudgeo cookies, .... if ever we tired of it we could wheel it downtown and push it out of a skyscraper window, the possibilites were limitless....

There's always this weekend. Week 4 of the season, seven, maybe eight weeks to go. And the thought of the safe will keep me running.....

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