Auction Season

OH MY GOODNESS!  It is AUCTION SEASON!! 

 

Everyone has to have their weaknesses and our family's is going to auction sales.  I mean, it's been said that the Orr auction is a national holiday--although others say it's just a Bornemann holiday. At any rate, if at all possible, all interested family members pile into the pickup and head for the auction. They've even gone out in blizzards!!

 

 I usually pack them a lunch but last week when they decided to drive 3 hours to the Steffas auction in Fargo, they decided to buy some burgers from the food truck so that they'd get something warm in them.  I thought that was good.  It made me feel warmer knowing that they had warm food in their bellies while they walked through the rows and rows of farm equipment which someone had no more use for or needed the money from the sale of.

That one wasn't a very good sale as there was nothing that went cheap enough for our guys to buy.  That's ok, it's only the start of auction season.  There is no need to buy something at every sale, you know, it's the experience that counts!!

 

Usually the experience includes running into old friends and listening to them ramble with one ear as you listen to the auctioneer.  Once "Your" item is sold, of course, then the conversation can be continued with attention.  By "Your" item I mean the one that you drove a hundred miles to check out.  It never was yours but it was what drew you to the sale.

 

Our guys watch the auction house's fliers like I grew up looking at the Sears and Roebuck catalogues.  Supper discussion is often of which sale has which tractor or combine or .... listed!  It's VERY exciting and super addictive BUT what else is interesting when you live in the middle of nowhere and have Winter for half the year??????????

 

You can even buy items online.  There's a charge for doing so but it might save you a trip if you don't get the thing you were interested in. If, however, the online buyer DOES end up with the item, then he still has to drive to the auction site and pick it up.  Our guys bought a pay loader that way.  It didn't start, when they got there, but they managed to get it home and it is GREAT for pushing snow!!!

 

I went online to see if there was a poem about auction sale addictions.  I almost roared with laughter when I saw that there is an auction house down South called MY AUCTION ADDICTION!  That is so funny and certainly applies to my guys. 

 

 It's not just the guys, though.  I can recall mom and I washing the garden dirt off our hands and faces so that we could walk down the block to the household auction.  Who knows what kinds of treasures we might find?  There were ALWAYS treasures to be had for only a dollar!!!

 

I remember one time buying a little electric heater for my kitchen which looked just like a pot bellied stove.  I was so excited as it would take the chill off when I was cooking breakfast in the Winter mornings.  You must imagine my delight to get such a treasure for only ONE DOLLAR. 

 

However, as the auctioneer's assistant handed it to me, he added, "Oh by the way, the heater part wasn't working so they threw it out."  How my fellow treasure hunters laughed at my expression.  Well, anyway it's a nice planter and I've enjoyed it for several decades now.  See!

 

 

So, you know how I like poetry.  This one is from the seller's perspective but I've been that too.  I helped prepare for my grandmother Kusler's auction sale when I was in collage.  When Robert and I were dating, we helped with my grandfather Delzer's household auction. When Robert's folks sold their farm equipment, Robert helped with that.  Then, almost 10 years ago, my family and I helped prepare for my father's household auction.  I've been involved in several rummage sales so it's fun to see how much one can make with things that you have no more use for. 

 

However, it truly is much better to be the buyer!!!!  Oh the excitement to get a card with a number on it just like everyone else.  To hold it up, after spending $2 on a box of kitchen gadgets, is a THRILL!!  Then the SUPREME satisfaction of examining each item carefully and grasping the vast wonderfulness which has just come into your possession!!!  Just look at that nut cracker set--the third one I ended up with this Summer!!  lol

 

 I hope that you enjoy this auction poem and I urge you to get out this Summer and attend an auction near you!!  Just limit the amount you're going to spend, before you leave the house, and the joys you find there will never be forgotten!  I PROMISE--especially if you take along a friend!!

 

 

Grandma's Hand Sewn Quilt

 

When the auctioneer first shows it,
I feel a sudden piercing shock.
My grandma's hand-sewn antique quilt
Is on the auction block.
It is the lovely basket pattern
And her stitches are so neat,
It must have taken tedious hours
For my grandma to complete.

I have taken such good care of it
Since my daddy left it to me,
And I wrapped up in it often
When the day was dark and gloomy.
Grandma sewed in her initials
And the year that she had made it.
One hundred-fifty-two years of wear and age
Couldn't help but start to fade it.

Grandma didn't know the fortune
That her hand-stitched quilt could bring,
When it was held up as an antique
In a future auction ring.
My heart is truly hurting
And I cannot stop the tears,
For giving up the treasure
I have loved for all these years.

Grandma made it for her hope chest,
While my grandpa was at war.
The year was Eighteen Sixty three.
My grandma was twenty-four.
But I know Grandma would agree with me,
That the life of our little Nell
Is worth more than a beloved quilt.
It is the right time to sell.
There is so much history going with it,
To this quilt's lucky buyer.
I hope he bids a hundred thousand.
Or if we're lucky, even higher.