05-06-07

Geeky observation: you know, in much of the world they might not even understand the significance of the title of this post, since in many societies people place the digits of the month and date opposite of how we do it in the States. And in referring to it as 'today's date' I will have lost a significant portion of the world's population, as in all but 22 time zones it's already tomorrow. But for another hour and a few minutes, today's date is a number sequence that will not happen again for another thousand years. Well, at least not until this coming June 5th.

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I went this past weekend to a garage sale with daughter number one AE. Well, I should correct that: we went to a Festival of Garage Sales. Really. That's what it's called. There are many such neighborhood events around the city, but the one in Bryn Mawr just west of downtown Minneapolis is one of the best. Held the first Saturday and Sunday of each May, around 100+ families put the detritus of their middle-class lives on sale for strangers to take away, for a small amount of cash. The kinds of things people own *and* are willing to rid themselves of say something about them. I was able to glean bits and pieces of their lives by seeing the kinds of books they read, the clothes they wear, the movies they watch, the music they listen to - or don't, as the case may be.

Anyway, I've been going every year for nearly a decade and while some years are better than others, I've never been really disappointed, and almost always come home with something interesting. This year I picked up some CD's (Hole, Sinatra, Bill Withers, Talking Heads, Mark Knoffler), a DVD, some blank VHS cassettes, some clothes for AE, and books for the girls. I don't think we spent much over $20, but I felt we got some good bargains.
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I mowed the lawn today for the first time this year. It was starting to look raggedy and in need of a trim. It always takes some doing to the lawnmower started at the beginning of each season, but after some false starts, it kicked over, and I was able to get going. Even with a power mower, it still takes over an hour to do the whole yard, but it wasn't that bad, and it felt good to get the yard looking nice. It's amazing the amount of work that a nice lawn can take up, but I've always thought an expanse of suburban green is a very pretty sight.
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Migawd! In less than 30 days I'll 50 years of age. I remember when that seemed ancient, and in some respects it still does. It's a cliche' but a very true one: time flies.