The weather was not great this morning. Although it was not raining when I got up, the forecast called for rain, the skies were threatening. In any case, I decided to go ahead and do the first yard sale day of the season. Like the shooting of the bamboo, the flowering of the cherry and … Continue reading →
Category Bargaining, Found Things, Treasure hunting, Uncategorized, Yard Sales · Tagged with Bargaining, buddha, conversation, Found things, hobbies, meeting people, tradition, treasure, treasure hunt, Treasure hunting, unexpected surprises, Yard sales
My parents had a motto in their later years that went, It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch. My father explained it to me by saying that to love someone deeply meant that sooner or later there would be profound pain from loss. He also said that it was that loving … Continue reading →
Category Death, Love, marriage, Parents, Tradition, Uncategorized · Tagged with art, conversation, death, grief, Growing up, learning, Love, marriage, Parents, tradition
Posted by Patron Saint of Knives on February 29, 2012 · 2 Comments
Life here at the Ocular Edifice is, more or less a circus of animals. There are the 5 chickens, which scratch randomly about their coop in an inoffensive and generally entertaining manner and deliver us enough green eggs to satisfy our needs and still have enough left over to give some to friends and neighbors. … Continue reading →
Posted by Patron Saint of Knives on February 25, 2012 · 3 Comments
Going to yard sales is like reading a book of short stories with a general theme, but an unending assortment of characters and situations. The stories you find there are a long random string of pearls strung through a city with a blacktop thread. The stories themselves, like pearls, are grown from small grains of … Continue reading →
Category Bargaining, Found Things, Humor, Tradition, Treasure hunting, Uncategorized, Yard Sales · Tagged with Bargaining, conversation, Found things, hobbies, Humor, learning, meeting people, tradition, treasure hunt, Treasure hunting, unexpected surprises, Yard sales
Posted by Patron Saint of Knives on February 24, 2012 · 1 Comment
A lot of the stuff I find at yard sales ends up in my eccentric garden under the category of “Yard Art”. It is an esthetic genetically passed down from my eclectic parents, both of whom found pleasure in small treasures and unexpected surprises. I also remember with admiration the long and twisted driveway of … Continue reading →
Category Found Things, Humor, Parents, Tradition, Treasure hunting, Uncategorized, Yard Sales · Tagged with art, Bargaining, bird house, birds, buddha, crafts, diy, Found things, gardens, hidden creatures, Humor, learning, Parents, treasure, treasure hunt, Treasure hunting, unexpected surprises, Yard sales
Posted by Patron Saint of Knives on February 21, 2012 · 1 Comment
My father was a scholar and a true intellectual. He wrote many books which he sometimes referred to by their weight, started the University of Santa Cruz, was a university professor emeritus, could quote long passages from obscure books, and was renown as a historian of the people… He also raised chickens… In between his … Continue reading →
Posted by Patron Saint of Knives on February 19, 2012 · 2 Comments
Some of you may know that I lived for many years in Japan, teaching English, writing for newspapers, and making masks. It was a strange country… that place of the rising mists. There was a mix of the sublime mysterious temples and the steep narrow streets. The cherry trees, heavy with subtle blossoms, and the ancient … Continue reading →
Category Dogs, Tradition, Uncategorized · Tagged with Dogs, Humor, learning, meeting people, mutts, mysterious temples, small apartment, strange country, Uncategorized
I used to work at the Benson Hotel in Portland Oregon, a fine old hotel with crystal chandeliers, a grand palatial stair case and an elegant entry hall all paneled in a dark rich walnut so rare now as to be considered extinct. I worked with a cast of characters as odd and eclectic as … Continue reading →
Category Bargaining, Found Things, Humor, Tradition, Treasure hunting, Uncategorized, Yard Sales · Tagged with conversation, Found things, Growing up, Humor, learning, meeting people, tradition, treasure, Yard sales
Posted by Patron Saint of Knives on February 12, 2012 · 1 Comment
If Murphy were a Bigger dog, he’d probably rule the world. He’d chase it round the universe and bite it as it twirled. He wouldn’t care for politics, he wouldn’t care for war. He only cares for playing, for that’s what dogs are for.
Posted by Patron Saint of Knives on February 11, 2012 · 3 Comments
Last year, I made a substantial amount of money at yard sales. Certainly not enough to quit my day job, but enough to provide seed money to various other projects that I have been involved in. Over the past several years yard sales seem to have gotten much better, the quality and selection have improved … Continue reading →
Category Bargaining, Dogs, Found Things, Humor, Tradition, Treasure hunting, Uncategorized, Yard Sales · Tagged with Bargaining, conversation, Found things, hobbies, koans, learning, meeting people, tradition, treasure, treasure hunt, Treasure hunting, Yard sales
