Ron Walker
The air is crackling with excitement; compare it to a day of shopping at Macy’s with Walmart prices. It’s a carnival, a Disneyland where everyone knows each other. Every kind of household object, including, jewelry, clothing, antiques, oddities and reminiscences are piled neatly on 30-foot-long tables. I stumble over a box containing tennis rackets made of wood and strung with cat gut, and I’m immediately taken back to my youth. The kid in me comes out and I relax and start enjoying myself.
Ah ha, a table of kitchenware that stretches to the stage. The Smith Valley Community Hall is generous in its proportions. My immediate goal is to find a “church key.” For those readers who think a church key is a sure way to get to heaven, I have to disappoint you. It’s a bottle opener. Yesterday I scoured the kitchen-ware departments of Walmart and the Dollar Tree Store in Minden and came up empty. Our Rummage sale is my salvation, and find a snappy, almost new church key.
Orllyene is looking through bins of picture frames for just the right size frame. Violet, our precious great-grand daughter is entering kindergarten and a graduation picture will be arriving at the end of the semester to match Lily’s and Rose’s.
I’m in heaven. A large box of old postcards, in virgin condition presents itself. I haven’t taken up the art of “texting” people; too intimidating. I’m more comfortable with postcards. From my first Brownie camara days, picture postcards have been my communication method of choice. Each card in the stack has a story to tell; Istanbul, Connie Island, tent city in San Francisco, circa 1906, an old Florida map postcard, all bits of history. I go berserk and by a bundle at 10 cents a pop.
Orllyene and I visit the refreshment alcove. Coffee, soft drinks and lunch are provided by our friend, Kim Aynediter. She and husband Carl are from Lake Tahoe. After decades of living with mobs of tourists they opted for the quiet life here in Smith. When I ask her about the five baby chicks she recently purchased, she says one turned out to be a rooster. She and Carl now carry a broom when they enter the chicken coop. Mr. Rooster gets feisty in the mornings and likes to peck anyone, he feels is challenging his domain. Time passes.
Teetering on the brink of exhaustion, we prepare to leave and, I recognize someone but because we are both wearing masks, I’m not sure who it is. The conversation flows and we talk on and on. I mention the T-shirt she is wearing that reads “Life is Good.” We both agree, life is good and finally say goodbye, never knowing who I was talking to but enjoying every minute.
This year’s Rummage Sale generated a goodly sum of money to keep the Community Hall in tip top shape for another year. The volunteers should take pride in a job well done. So many people benefited in so many ways. It was truly Olympian, a three-medal winner. Good job ladies.
Ron Walker can be reached at walkover@gmx.com
