Sunday drives are lovely, especially in the fall. The A/C is off, the windows are open. The leaves have started to change into yellows, oranges and reds. As we drive by motorcycles stopped at roadside stands, we are careful to watch out for our less protected riders. Then, we see the open parking lot, filled with cars and mini-vans – trunks open, tables out, people milling around in what we humbly call the Flea Market. I have to wonder…is this activity uniquely American?

Are we the only crazy people who take stuff out of our homes, load it into our cars and drive down to the old drive in theater and pay a fee to set up a stand? Are we the ones who invented the yard sale, the garage sale (which is rarely in a garage) and the rummage sale?

What do we seek at these venues?

Super valuable old things that someone doesn’t want anymore?

An old bike. Barbies from the 50s. Books and comics. Records and VHS tapes (or maybe it is CDs and DVDs). Silver tea pots and mismatched plates…

Selling our collections because we don’t want them anymore, can’t fit them in our busting out houses filled with stuff found at Home Goods? Are we just suckers for a bargain, a uniquely American pursuit – or did this come from our European forefathers; giving us someone else to blame on this bizarre recycled bazaar?

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl