JSIS Yard Sale Day

I love a yard sale, but really, I’m not much of a buyer. Sure, I used to: a clever coffee press, a pair of shorts that mostly fit, a crystal decanter that I could just picture myself serving scotch from. But at some point, I realized that I had too much stuff already, and adding more stuff was burdening me, rather than elevating me.

But I still go to garage sales whenever I can. It’s not about the buying, it’s about the browsing. A garage sale is like a little museum of someone’s life, a peephole into a personality I might otherwise just brush past on the sidewalk: here’s someone who dabbled in crotchet, obsessed about Civil War history, or fell prey to the Beanie Baby craze.

And then there are crazy finds, that you just want to tug someone’s sleeve and show them, or text your friends. I’ve found a set of ten glass ampules of morphine, a vibrator and a fully functional, 1950’s era “home pony” massager (pictured at right). One find like that can make up for a week of sifting through moldy sweaters, empty mayonnaise jars  and used cat scratching posts.

And then there are the people: there’s nothing like stopping on a sunny day, folks sitting out in their yard and just chatting. You pick up some neighborhood gossip or news, you share a joke, maybe you’ll even get a cup of coffee out of the deal. It’s Saturday, you’ve got nowhere to be, and it’s garage sale season.

This Saturday, from 9 am – 3 pm, the John Stanford School is holding their annual garage sale day, all proceeds to benefit the JSIS PTSA. Our community has been very generous with donations and there will also be baked goods and coffee available at every site.

• 2305 N 39th St
• 4011 Corliss Ave N
• 3933 Corliss Ave N
• 1909 N 39th St
• 4218 Meridian Ave
• 4401 2nd Ave NE (Mosaic Coffee House)