Surreal Saturday
If I had woken up and realized that Saturday was
all a dream, I would have rolled over and said, "I had the weirdest dream". It
was one of those days.
It started with a garage sale. I've never had a garage sale before. I never go to garage sales. We decided that we would join our neighbor and have a "multi-family garage sale". We didn't have a lot of stuff since we have moved twice in 18 months... twice across the country in 18 months... but that is another story. We had a few things from our remodeling - a ceiling fan and a chandelier - and a few small items but not a lot of stuff.
It started with a garage sale. I've never had a garage sale before. I never go to garage sales. We decided that we would join our neighbor and have a "multi-family garage sale". We didn't have a lot of stuff since we have moved twice in 18 months... twice across the country in 18 months... but that is another story. We had a few things from our remodeling - a ceiling fan and a chandelier - and a few small items but not a lot of stuff.
So Saturday started with us hurrying out the door
to walk next door to sit in the driveway all morning (8:00 - 2:00). It was a
chilly, gray and breezy day so we took turns running back inside to add another
layer. There is a whole world of people who "do garage sales". They are
professional garage sale shoppers. One guy had to rent three (3) garages to hold
all of his garage sale finds. One day he finally realized how much he was
spending to store all of his garage sale goods. He opened up the garages and put
everything out with a sign that said, "Free". Gave it all away. Another woman
said, "my husband said if I come home with one more thing I don't use he'll
throw me out." The people that go to garage sales are a surreal group. The
latino families where the only normal
ones.
I called friends in the morning. We'll call them Pat and Lynn. Not their real names. There was bike for sale that I thought Pat would like. Pat answered and seemed out of it and upset. It turns out that Lynn was in an accident and they had spent all night in the emergency room. I was hit with a rush of memories when we got the call that our friend Peggy was killed in a car wreck. Peggy was young, full of life, joyful and fun and then she was dead. I was also filled with memories of spending all night in the ER when Ena had a terrible migraine. The two memories mingled together with the news of Lynn.
So now I was in a very strange emotional place (death of Peggy, memories of all night in the ER with Ena, worried about Lynn) sitting in a driveway all day long on a cold-gray Spring day talking with stranger-than-strangers who were looking at plates for 25 cents each.
That night we were supposed to go to dinner at Pat and Lynn's house. We called on them later on in the day to see how things were going, to offer some help and to bring some flowers for Lynn. Pat said they had a ton of food for the party and we should come back later on to eat with them. Ena and I said that we would check back and see how they are doing.
We ran to the grocery store and bought groceries... but nothing for dinner for Saturday night because we thought we would be helping Pat and Lynn get rid of party food. We called Pat later on to see how things were going. Pat said they were beat and could we take a rain check on the evening. We said yes and then went out to dinner.
After dinner, I said to Ena, "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if we woke up and discovered that today was just a weird dream. Just think of it. I had this weird dream. We spent all day sitting in the driveway with Rick, talking to garage sale people. And it was cold and gray and the oddest people came by. We were supposed to go to a party at Pat and Lynn's house. Then we talked with Pat and Lynn had been in an accident so the party was off. But then dinner was back on so we went to the grocery store but we didn't buy dinner stuff. But then dinner was off because... "
And Sunday morning it snowed these huge snowflakes for about an hour. Then the Sun came out and it turned warm and beautiful.
I called friends in the morning. We'll call them Pat and Lynn. Not their real names. There was bike for sale that I thought Pat would like. Pat answered and seemed out of it and upset. It turns out that Lynn was in an accident and they had spent all night in the emergency room. I was hit with a rush of memories when we got the call that our friend Peggy was killed in a car wreck. Peggy was young, full of life, joyful and fun and then she was dead. I was also filled with memories of spending all night in the ER when Ena had a terrible migraine. The two memories mingled together with the news of Lynn.
So now I was in a very strange emotional place (death of Peggy, memories of all night in the ER with Ena, worried about Lynn) sitting in a driveway all day long on a cold-gray Spring day talking with stranger-than-strangers who were looking at plates for 25 cents each.
That night we were supposed to go to dinner at Pat and Lynn's house. We called on them later on in the day to see how things were going, to offer some help and to bring some flowers for Lynn. Pat said they had a ton of food for the party and we should come back later on to eat with them. Ena and I said that we would check back and see how they are doing.
We ran to the grocery store and bought groceries... but nothing for dinner for Saturday night because we thought we would be helping Pat and Lynn get rid of party food. We called Pat later on to see how things were going. Pat said they were beat and could we take a rain check on the evening. We said yes and then went out to dinner.
After dinner, I said to Ena, "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if we woke up and discovered that today was just a weird dream. Just think of it. I had this weird dream. We spent all day sitting in the driveway with Rick, talking to garage sale people. And it was cold and gray and the oddest people came by. We were supposed to go to a party at Pat and Lynn's house. Then we talked with Pat and Lynn had been in an accident so the party was off. But then dinner was back on so we went to the grocery store but we didn't buy dinner stuff. But then dinner was off because... "
And Sunday morning it snowed these huge snowflakes for about an hour. Then the Sun came out and it turned warm and beautiful.
Posted: Mon - May 3, 2004 at 04:56 PM
