Sunburn, auctions, memories, and harmony.

Ouch. Sunburned neck. I always think about putting on sunscreen; I realize the dangers of skin cancer. My dad had skin cancers on his neck and hands which were, fortunately, treatable. But in the time when he was exposed to the sun continuously, people didn't wear sunscreens. Plus, he was fighting a war in sunny North Africa and Italy and didn't really have much time to think about slathering on some SPF. But I do resolve to be more active about putting some on rather than just thinking about it. Keeping some in the car might be a good idea. Duh.

I love auctions. I'm almost addicted to them. My favoritest of auction companies is Braun and Helmer. Dad took me to them when I was very young and I thought that it was like a toyland of "stuff". Dad also taught me to wait for a good bargain all the time. So auctions seem to be a sort of raison d'etre for me to find a good bargain. Saturday I got a 32" Quasar TV for $110 and Sunday I got a garden tractor with a drag, mower deck, and front blade for $150. It's an older tractor, a Sears model, and it's been pretty well maintained. I went to the auction on Saturday with an idea towards getting one of those cool zero-radius-turn mowers but it went for $4000. There was a Ford 1910 (model #, not year) tractor that went for more than $7000. I'm convinced that I should be going into the tractor restoration business. There was even an old Farmall Cub tractor in really rough condition that ended up going for $1800. (The picture is a different tractor)

In contrast, the auction yesterday had a beautiful 1972 Lincoln Continental with 57,000 original miles that only ended up going for $3250. When we went back to pick up the tractor, I found out that they pulled the car from the auction with the view that it was really worth more than that. I agree with that but it means that the seller has to start over again and start marketing it. I don't think he was totally happy about that but he didn't find out until the end of the auction.

I think that one of the reasons I like auctions so much, other than to find way cool deals, is to sort of get a piece of the history of other people. I find myself wanting to be the caretaker of the things that people no longer want yet someone liked well enough to buy or make. There are items that we think are ugly today yet were considered high-fashion in their time. And we feel connections with the mundane. The guy who owned this tractor hadn't used it regularly for several years, as he'd bought a newer and bigger one. Yet, when it was wheeled out for the auction, his daughter was upset that he was getting rid of it, saying that she'd grown up with it. As an aside (aren't all of my blog entries asides, really?), I was upset with my sister for giving away the old Allis Chalmers tractor that I grew up with. It's the first thing I ever drove, the sound lulled me to sleep on many summer nights as my dad would mow into the darkness, it's a part of my childhood. Never mind that it was ancient, it was ours. It was mine.

There are little knicknacks that are parts of our lives which are part of the "background noise". Things that are in our world for our entire lives and when they go away we feel their absence. A particular piece of furniture; an old table lamp; even the way a room is arranged. We get used to them and they become part of that noise. When they change, so changes the noise. It's different -- not quite right. It's a little out of tune. I guess that when I buy that little knicknack, I try to bring a sense of harmony into my own life and allow those who grow up with something and wonder what's happen to it to imagine that it's gone to a good home.