A couple of months ago my friend Jen and I held a joint garage sale. We had hemmed and hawed about whether to do it or not - it is a lot of work to go through your stuff, price it, and drag it out of your house for the whole world to see. There isn't a lot of financial motivation, either, when your price point ranges from five cents to five dollars. But we agreed to make it happen the weekend that the rest of her block put their own junk on display. I admit, when it came right down to it, I didn't put a whole lot of effort into the sale. I was daunted by the process of going through all my stuff and almost backed out at the last minute. But, one thing I had already accomplished earlier that spring was to go through my closet and do my biannual throw/keep routine. All of my cast-offs were sorted, folded, and sitting in my basement. So, I decided I would avoid the arduous task of going through all the rest of my unwanted wares and just haul over my clothes. At the last minute, as I was loading up my car, I decided to grab a couple of other items sitting in my basement: a cheap IKEA wine rack, my pre-iPod three-disc stereo (with cassette player), and my land-line phones from my eight month stay in an apartment with no cell service. Feeling good about my sale items I started up my car and headed over to Jen's house. Once our goods were priced and merchandised, we settled onto her front porch with our coffee to wait for our customers. Well, as it turned out, it ended up being a lucrative morning. Once the word got out amongst the moms in the neighborhood that I was selling cute, nice clothes (I have expensive tastes), business picked up and I walked away with a cool $100. But the real excitement of the morning happened about halfway through our morning as I perused Jen and her hubby's sale items. As my eyes wandered over their stuff, I noticed a camera priced at three dollars. A nice camera. A 35mm Nikon N65. Like most people, they had upgraded long ago to a digital camera and no longer used this "old-fashioned" film camera. After taking a peak through the lens, I was in love. The idea of using film seemed very retro and romantic. I love to take pictures and this seemed like a great way to turn it into a hobby. I offered them their full asking price of three dollars. Ultimately, we haggled out a trade: the camera for my land-line phones. We were all happy. Unfortunately, the mutual happiness was short-lived when Jen and Tim couldn't get the phones to work (they can hear the caller but the caller can't hear them, or maybe it is the other way around). I, however, am still overjoyed with my new camera. From pictures of my yard to the farmer's market to Olbrich Gardens, what used to be just an interest has turned into a meditative and creative hobby. I had to haul my stereo and wine rack back home, but every time I take a photograph I am reminded that it was worth all the effort. Jen, I owe you three dollars!
Here are some of my favorite shots:
[pickled]
[hosta]
[gourds]
[garage heart]
Enjoy.
P.S. Some of my other favorites are posted on my blog already: the rose from my original post, the knives in my "loves" post, and the flowers in my blog banner at the top of the page.
I love a good quote. On my home page (iGoogle) I have a feature that has three quotes of the day. They are usually related by a common theme. Sometimes they are silly, sometimes they are serious. They often don't have any relevance to my life, but occasionally they hit home in way that helps me make sense of the world. I like this quote because it resonates with my life at the moment. I know that I want to do something, but can't quite put my finger on what. So, even though I don't know yet what that something is in terms of my future, this blog is my something for right now. I'd love to hear some of your favorite quotes so if you feel so inclined leave one in the comment section! 
