She made notes as they amended their plans and added last minute jobs. When the two of them agreed that their schedule for the day had about all the shopping they could stand, Deedee put her pen away and zipped up the Day Runner while Ron unplugged the coffee pot. He didn’t want the pot to remain on and cause a fire while they were gone. He had seen enough fires in his former career as a police officer and was mindful of Deedee’s tendency to get distracted and forget things. They got into the car and began their shopping trip by taking a circuitous route through a residential section to avoid the heavy Saturday morning traffic. Ron had laid out a route in his head for their weekend excursion that would hit each of the stores in order, finally returning home on the last leg of the trip. Deedee looked out of the side window and watched the early risers mowing their lawns before the heat of the day. Suddenly she said, “Ron! Stop!”
Ron dutifully pulled the car to the side of the road by the curb and asked, “What is it, Honey?”
“They’re having a garage sale, Ron! Look at the huge yellow toy dog! Isn’t it just darling? Let’s go and see what they have. We have plenty of time. Can we go see it, pleaaase?”, she replied.
Ron backed the car up and parked it next to the curb, then they got out and walked over to the card tables that had been set up on the driveway. Deedee was cagey and pretended that she wasn’t interested in the stuffed dog, looking over the other items on the tables to get an idea of how high the prices were. Deedee was pleasantly surprised to discover that the objects the homeowner had put on sale were being sold at giveaway prices. Deedee looked at Ron in askance, silently questioning Ron whether he thought the sale was legitimate or not. Ron gave her an almost imperceptible shrug to indicate that he couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t stolen merchandise. Displayed in the middle of the table that the operator of the garage sale stood behind was a grimy antique oil lamp.
Deedee saw the lamp and thought that with a little polishing, it would make a nice display piece on one of their bookcases. She picked it up and asked the homeowner, “How much is this?”
“Ten dollars,” replied the man promptly.