Sunday found my Mom, my sister-in-law, her two girls and me on a fast-paced trip to the center of North Dakota where we planned to spend the day at an auction sale. The town where the auction was held is the place where my parents brought me following my birth. We lived on a dairy farm that had electricity, party-line telephones and no running water. Civilization has caught up with the tiny community - but the town is much smaller than I remember.
Directions to the auction were not needed as we immediately located the blocked off street and the large number of parked cars. It was the oddest auction I have ever attended.
Once again, the person's belongings were spread out across the yard and on farm trailers in cardboard boxes for anxious bidders to paw over - seeking the ultimate bargain or a perceived needed item. I struggled once again as the auctioneer's helpers held up a knee brace, an entire box of liniment for sore muscles, a miscellaneous Christmas ornament and some pencils - the auctioneer encouraging the crowd to bid for this odd menagerie of items. The odd part of the auction was in watching the bidders. At most auctions the trailers have a crowd of people pressing close the trailers with a straggling of outliers. This auction found people with lawn chairs seated on people's lawns across the street - casually holding up their hand to indicate a bid with the helpers actually delivering the then won items to the highest bidder. It was more a spectator sport than an auction.
Sadly, the extreme heat seemed to take a toll as many items only went for a few dollars. A beautiful oak dining set with six chairs and a table only brought $40 (no, I didn't buy it - we could not get it home). I spent a grand total of $9 purchasing some enamel buckets for the barn, a chenille bedspread and a few other miscellaneous items.
The house was also up for auction. It was a cute little bungalow with a bathroom and two bedrooms upstairs, a finished basement and a lovely yard complete with many wonderful perennial plants. The house sold for $13,500. Yes, an entire house. I believe the taxes were said to be about $400 a year.
Once again, I'm not sure if I'm OK with auctions like this. I don't know if I want my personal items spread out for the world to look at and casually bid $1 for something that I cherished. Hmm, more deep thoughts for a cooler day.
7/25/2007
Ecuador
Our 17 year old son (my baby!) is spending nearly two weeks in Ecuador on a mission trip. His primary objective is to assist with the building of a church, conduct community service, assist with Vacation Bible School, help out with a medical clinic and have a great time while totally cut off from Mom and Dad with 200 other youth and adult supervisors. We haven't heard a word from our eldest since dropping him off at Minneapolis airport, but the organizers had warned us that 'no news is good news' as the plan is that none of the young people will attempt to place international telephone calls from Quito (where they landed) nor from the remote villages where they are serving nor from Guayaquil where they fly out of.
Talk about dispelling the myth that we are over-protective homeschooling parents. We sent our child off with an airline ticket, passport, itinerary and two bags loaded to the 50 lb. limit (including tent and solar shower as the conditions are very primitive). He also has a calling card - which he was supposed to use to call during his layover in Miami, but didn't - as electronic devices such as cell phones are contraband on this expedition.
Join us in praying that this journey will be a safe one and that his very basic Spanish will have allowed him to communicate with the locals (just being able to do things like...find the bathroom, locate his luggage, etc.). You can check out the trip updates on ultimateworkout.org - he is on the UW17 trip to Ecuador.
Talk about dispelling the myth that we are over-protective homeschooling parents. We sent our child off with an airline ticket, passport, itinerary and two bags loaded to the 50 lb. limit (including tent and solar shower as the conditions are very primitive). He also has a calling card - which he was supposed to use to call during his layover in Miami, but didn't - as electronic devices such as cell phones are contraband on this expedition.
Join us in praying that this journey will be a safe one and that his very basic Spanish will have allowed him to communicate with the locals (just being able to do things like...find the bathroom, locate his luggage, etc.). You can check out the trip updates on ultimateworkout.org - he is on the UW17 trip to Ecuador.
Summer
Due to my lack of attention to anything on the computer, I plan to post a lot in the next few weeks.
We are roasting in North Dakota. The heat index in our neck of the woods is supposed to be in excess of 100 degrees today. I was shocked this morning to see that the sheep apparently can let themselves out of the barn. Hank and I trotted through the still dew wet grass planning to release the woolly girls early to allow them time to eat the succulent green grass before their permanent wool coats forced them to lay in the barn or under trees, presumably hoping for cooler days ahead. Instead we found the barn door had been flung open, allowing the girls to eat far earlier than I had planned. My favorite husband had released them from their night-time home before leaving for work - feeling bad for both them and me (I stayed up late, late the night before and had wished for a morning to sleep later).
During July and August I always feel the pinch of being a single income family. It seems to be a perceived pinch, but the planned purchase of a plethora of school books for our homeschooling the next year always presents a daunting figure. I begin to scheme, plot, plan and consider how this might feel when I am able to contribute to our bottom line. Add to the pending purchase my favorite husband's run to Ikea for much-needed bookcases (love them, just didn't love the deduction from the check book), the soon completion of our upstairs bathroom and all necessary supplies to accomplish the project, the purchase of a new hot water heater (the old one shorted out in a shower of sparks resembling the 4th of July), and the purchase of a new pump for the animal water and I turn into a quivering mass of nerves when balancing the check book. Never mind that in September I will breathe a sigh of relief - and then to express new concerns to the propane man in November about the prices.
Ahh, the dog days of summer.
We are roasting in North Dakota. The heat index in our neck of the woods is supposed to be in excess of 100 degrees today. I was shocked this morning to see that the sheep apparently can let themselves out of the barn. Hank and I trotted through the still dew wet grass planning to release the woolly girls early to allow them time to eat the succulent green grass before their permanent wool coats forced them to lay in the barn or under trees, presumably hoping for cooler days ahead. Instead we found the barn door had been flung open, allowing the girls to eat far earlier than I had planned. My favorite husband had released them from their night-time home before leaving for work - feeling bad for both them and me (I stayed up late, late the night before and had wished for a morning to sleep later).
During July and August I always feel the pinch of being a single income family. It seems to be a perceived pinch, but the planned purchase of a plethora of school books for our homeschooling the next year always presents a daunting figure. I begin to scheme, plot, plan and consider how this might feel when I am able to contribute to our bottom line. Add to the pending purchase my favorite husband's run to Ikea for much-needed bookcases (love them, just didn't love the deduction from the check book), the soon completion of our upstairs bathroom and all necessary supplies to accomplish the project, the purchase of a new hot water heater (the old one shorted out in a shower of sparks resembling the 4th of July), and the purchase of a new pump for the animal water and I turn into a quivering mass of nerves when balancing the check book. Never mind that in September I will breathe a sigh of relief - and then to express new concerns to the propane man in November about the prices.
Ahh, the dog days of summer.
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