June 22, 2014. Canyon Lake, Texas. Auctions.

Auctions have their own market. I have seen shirts being offered for sale where there were no takers, until the auctioneer began. Quickly, the shirts were sold. People with no intention of buying, end up going home with a truck full of objects purchased at the auction. It is interesting to observe at a country auction. For the past two Saturdays at our farm in Pennsylvania, every object in both houses was sold at an auction, held on site. It is normal in rural Pennsylvania to auction the household furniture and other objects. Some of the pieces sold at the auctions were purchased by me at an auction forty years ago. Now both houses are empty. Many friends have suggested that this is sad but I do not feel that way. It is a wonderful method of recycling. It is true that each object had a story, lovingly purchased. Now those same objects will be enjoyed by other families. My Grandmother Houghton wrote a letter to my Mother, telling how pleased she was to be traveling by train to live with her other daughter Miriam in Ottawa, bringing only her clothes. All her other earthly belongings were gone, which gave her great joy. I always wondered how she got to that stage. After all, at one time she lived in a fully furnished home. Now she had only her clothes. I always wished that I had asked her, but of course, when she was alive, I was not interested. But now I have done the same thing myself. Both Ken and I are delighted that our two houses at the farm are empty with every object sold. It took us 44 years to purchase all those objects and they were sold on two Saturdays. Of course, we cheated. We have put into storage all our art and family pictures, the good china and crystal, selected books, all quilts, and four pieces of furniture. We are definitely not shedding all our worldly possessions. I suspect that was what my grandmother meant. We are doing it for practical reasons, not religious. But thank heavens for auctions. What would we have done with all that stuff??