Shopping and junking in the coulee

Holy Tornado! Let’s put aside our favorite topics (shopping and junking) for a bit for a quick rant and rave about the latest t-storm that blew through the Coulee Sunday evening, with gusting winds and lightning strikes dancing around.

When the power went out at Detective Frankie D.’s abode, I wondered for a moment if the house would take flight and wind up over the rainbow, crashing down in the Land of Oz. If that had happened, I was ready to belt out a few of Judy Garland’s famous tunes and put on a pair of red, jeweled shoes, tapping the heels together and reciting, “There’s no place like home” to get back to the Coulee again.

Are we now living in tornado alley? Or are we just part of a new and different summer and early fall weather scene, that of mini-tornados blowing our way from Grant County. I’m on the lookout for that green faced witch and her monkey crew, just in case we are in Oz. Around here, the monkey crew would most likely be on horseback instead of brooms.

Oh My Gosh! Pam and Hank tagged the second go at their Noble Road garage sale as bigger and better, and it was a four-star event with rerunners (shoppers who go back to a sale several times) showing up to cart off bargains. Man, stuff was all over the place, on tables, under tables and just sitting around on the ground; you know what I’m talking about — hunting gear, other outdoor stuff, tools and building supplies, and old, funky stuff mixed in with nice household things and brand new clothing.

At the P. and H. sale, Detective Frankie D. bought three old, aluminum USA fishing reels and another old reel encased in Bakelite, which means it was made in the 1940s-50s. And a duck. No, not a real duck, a rubber duck or decoy that will sit still and look cool in a planting of sunflowers.

The rummage sale at St. Henry’s Church in Grand Coulee is a favorite, yearly event that many local yard sale shoppers look forward to, and just like years past, the sale had a lot of great household items, kids’ stuff and clothing to choose from, all put out on tables or hanging up with room to move around and make selections. Every item was priced “right” and the sales crew was top notch.

Let’s talk about Delano. All of us who live in the Coulee know where Delano is and how to get there, but just in case you don’t, it’s a funky community across from North Dam Park and Banks Lake and home to many interesting homes, some local businesses and a landfill site. And this weekend, a nifty garage sale at an address on View Place featured some different and interesting stuff, such as a beautiful, tabletop Christmas-themed village, an assortment of tools, many in original metal boxes, and some crystal (glass) collectibles. And a selection of goodies like some plastic planters, an outdoor lounge chair and a kids’ wading pool, all free for the taking. So, Frankie D’s goldies (dogs) send thanks for their new pool which they christened with a quick swim on Saturday afternoon.

Here’s the deal. The first and possibly annual epic yard sale held at North Dam Park was as advertised … epic! Saturday’s event was as busy as those pesky yellow jackets buzzing around in the Coulee this summer, with a lot of foot traffic and shoppers in the park, all checking out the merchandise up for sale, with some sales set up on blankets under the shade trees. A little detective work revealed that several sellers had similar themes, that of western Americana. If you didn’t get out to this yard sale and other fun events, you missed out.

Time to shove off. I’m going home to practice singing Over The Rainbow. I’m on the lookout for an army of flying monkeys. Let me know if they show up at your place during the next t-storm.