I have just walked inside after working all day in the 100 degree heat here in North Texas. Granted, I have not been out in the direct sun, but I have been working away in a house with no air conditioning. That house is across the street from our Texas home and is a restoration project that we engaged in after we bought the house in a sheriff’s sale. The reason nobody else wanted it: an animal “rescuer” aka “hoarder” owned it and housed at least 40 dogs and an equal number of cats in the house for about ten years. When we bought it, we filled 8 huge bins with all the refuse (don’t ask) from the house, which required 5 guys equipped with ventilators and the civilian equivalent to HAZMAT suits to work for a solid week…
There are so many directions I could go here with my thoughts – the horrors of animal hoarding, the destruction of a vintage house, the creation of a biohazard, etc., but instead I want to focus on a completely different subject – our first annual neighborhood garage sale.
The house is cleaned and aired out – not a small accomplishment – with new sub-flooring throughout and five rooms newly sheet-rocked. On Saturday, we are having our first neighborhood garage sale in two of those five rooms, plus on the front lawn. A celebration of a transformation-in-progress and a community of neighbors and friends committed to clearing out the old and bringing in a new era of community pride. I couldn’t feel happier about the whole process.
So, now I am headed to the tub to clear off dirt and sweat, which has come from good honest work while laughing among friends. What a great day.
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