Home where the heart is
The clothing displayed on it brought back sweet memories from days
past, reminding him of his former fancy for firetrucks. These days,
they're more of an annoyance.
"They're really loud," he said, as another one whizzed past his house on Washington Street for the umpteenth time that day.
Every now and then he paused to pick up a piece of clothing that held
particular significance. He racked his six-year-old brain trying to
remember the time way back when — perhaps even as long ago as once upon
a time — that he wore it.
"This is what I used to wear a long time ago," he said. "Oh, this is
what I used to wear a very long time ago.... This is what I really used
to wear a long time ago. It's good for a little baby....This is what I
wored a very long time ago."
Oh, those were the days, when he could still snuggle into the one-piece Bob the Builder pajamas now displayed on a nearby tree.
"They won't make it till next year," his dad David said.
It wasn't the Lund's first yard sale of the season and it likely won't
be the last, judging from the merchandise remaining at the end of the
day. The rack was still crowded with clothes, selling at the bargain
price of $1 each. The sailboat/sandbox/pool (when you plugged up the
holes), was still waiting for a new owner too. Nobody had claimed the
video tapes either.
The family is moving out of its home in August, when the lease expires.
David said he wants to liquidate before they pack up for what will be
at least their seventh move in six years.
"It's either I sell it or I burn it," he said, surveying the goods they
have collected. "This time we're not moving anything we don't need."
As the afternoon progressed, Daniel continued to staff the sale with
his dad. His 13-year-old sister, Elena, had returned home from swimming
at a friend's pool and had joined her brother on the concrete stoop.
The youngest Lund, two-year-old Elizabeth, was more interested in the
dirt and ants than her sales quota. Her concentration was temporarily
interrupted by an alarming remark from her dad.
"Six months later it will be in the dumpster when he moves out," David
said, laughing as he watched two young guys carry out a coffee table
and a sofa with two rips in it.
"I don't want to be in the dumpster," Elizabeth exclaimed.
They aren't sure where they will be living next, but their time on
Washington Street has been a learning experience, at least for Daniel.
He has learned about nutrition from the Dairy Queen across the street:
"Ice cream has sugar in it...even Pepsi is made out of sugar."
He has learned about traffic issues and road rage in Naperville: "Tons
of cars come here. Like, the horns are loud when they press on the
button to get people out of their way."
And, it appears, in some elementary, six-year-old kind of way, he has learned the fine art of letting go.
"I got another crane in the house," he said as he demonstrated how to use the one he is selling. "Yeah, I don't need two."
7/17/05
