Getting By On Trash

March 10

Sometimes It pays to listen to the voice in your head !

It was late on a Sunday night ( trash to curb night ) and I was returning from the drug store . I would have gone to the other end of this particular town and driven up and down each street looking for good trash or scrap metal . On this particular night I did the whole route backwards by making my first left . Within a block I saw a curb piled high with house content trash . There was a little bit of everything, old but reusable . As I filled my truck up to overflowing with nice old couches , old chairs , old Ladies dresses and clothes ; an elderly woman came out dragging more stuff .

I couldn't beleive my luck . It turned out she was a neighbor of an even more elderly woman who had passed away and was left caretaker of the property . Settlement was Tuesday and she was trying to get the " Junk " out before Monday morning trash pickup . The poor woman needed help . I took home a load ( only two blocks away ) and dumped it in my back yard, then calling a buddy to help me pick up more . Loaded with handtrucks and bungee cords we returned . Except for the fine furniture we took everything else .

Everything was well kept. Lawnmowers, yard tools , and anything being stored for the winter was wrapped in plastic. All kitchen ware , dishes , glasses , the antique 1920's gas stove , a 1950's fridge, etc had to be removed .

There were black amethist candy dishes , ash trays , candle sticks , and vases . A home made pantry Hoshier painted green was claimed by my wife . It later turned out to be made of several kinds of wood plus parts of old sewing machines , and hard chromed ice box hinges . In the sewing kit we found old gold and silver hat pins and broaches and antique buttons .

Well ; I can tell you I had quite a pile of "junk" piled high in my back yard covered with tarps . It took the rest of the summer to sell all that we didn't keep or need at the Flea Market and yard sales . Boy , was that a good summer, making money and learning more than I expected to learn about antiques . After that I advertised " Light Hauling and cleaning out houses" .

The point to this story is to listen to the gut feeling and not your pride when passing some " usefull trash " at a curb. There are always some hidden treasures lurking out there . From experiance I learned that if you pass it by, often within minutes someone else will carry it away .

Timothy T