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Tuesday, May 9, 2006

“Gospa House”-Finding a Jewel & The Spider and The Lady





Those Little Treasures That I Found *~*



"Gospa House"

Spring has arrived and with it comes the anticipation of the special hunt at yard and church sales for someone’s long forgotten treasure. I waited patiently for the weekend to arrive so that I could seek out more of those discarded, lost and tattered objects of times past at the annual Merricksville Community garage sale; now the time had finally arrived.
As usual I was accompanied by my husband, daughter and her best friend. Of all the yard and church sales I go on, this one is the one they thoroughly enjoy and make the effort to attend. Little did I know that this cold and rainy day would bring such surprises?

We ventured beyond the gates of quaint old country yards painted in pastel hues of blooming flowers. April showers seemed to steal part of May’s flowers for the rain had no intention of letting up leaving all the smiling little flowers nodding down towards the ground and sending them to sleep. We resorted to viewing what yard sales we found from inside our truck. Nestled inside garages or sheds the garage sales were far and few between. Of the yard sales that were outdoors; the tables were covered in blue and white tarps- hardly a way to view what was for sale. I decided then that if I was to find anything that I would have to ultimately venture out into the rain- which I did.

I actually found it fun. I was cold, damp and wet and my hands were icy numb; too paralyzed to lift those heavy tarps to see what old book I would miss, if I didn’t take a look under. Without a thought I crouched under the water heavy tarps and stood up, lifting them with my head; which now had turned into a post.
To my husband and the girls delight I gave them quite a comedy to watch. I now had stooped down to sounding like a raccoon rummaging for food inside a garbage can and coming out looking like a disheveled old bag. They stood there all three of them in the rain laughing at Anna’s antics in her desperate search for the elusive “Children’s encyclopedia from 1911” making me think that I may have given them as much fun watching me as they had watching Lucy or some other funny comedian. I didn’t mind; I myself was laughing at what I had succumbed to. All this and was it worth it; you ask? Well I think so; I certainly relished in attaining my gems, giving my family and friends something to laugh and remember about and of course finding a tiny jewel.

After all this rummaging under the tarps, I came out in the end holding onto a rhinestone and pot metal song bird pin from the 40’s for just a song- a single 25 coin. That little bluebird of happiness had brought the joy in laughter to all of us! Through all the excitement I had completely forgotten to go back on the other side of the tracks facing north from the church sale, where there was yet another sale but this one was indoors – in a garage. My husband said it looked too manicured a sale and probably was not worth going to and so we passed it by proceeding on into the town of Merrickville {The Jewel of the Rideau}.

Coming around a bend on the last street of the town another little shed greeted us and welcomed us in from the rain. Barely enough room for one person to comfortably look and way too crowded, when yet again I heard a burst of laughter emitting from my husband and daughter which were now standing out there in the rain to the entrance of the shed. Little did I know what their secret joke was all about but I obviously had done something funny without my knowing. At least they were good old sports in finding some enjoyment in the entire affair. By now I was drenched and frozen to the bone so I happily volunteered that we would call it a day. I was thinking I would be happier at home on the computer, snuggled up in the warmth and comfort reading about somebody else’s yard sale adventures and not be so bitterly cold.

So with the decision made, we headed out of town towards home when we came across that well manicured garage sale by the tracks. The houses sign read “Gospa House”. A lovely old golden lab made its way to us from the front of the garage where there stood its owner. The lady was elegant wearing a long gathered dark skirt and wore her white hair up into a Victorian bun. Her face was pretty and her voice friendly. I was not surprised to find that what she sold was quite old and not to mention inexpensive but somehow I new others had come and gone with their happy finds.

And then I came across a bundle of cards-old cards. They had a sticker for $1 .The top photograph was of the Dionne parents and the rest were a grouping of souvenir cards of Italy and Capri. I asked her if each one was $1 and she answered no that the complete bundle was just one dollar. I was pleased that I had finally found some old cards and I mentioned to her that they were reminders of my old home. When hearing that she remarked; “You should have been here earlier, I just sold a big bundle of post cards from all over Italy- Florence, Venice and Rome, and they were very old -over a 100 years old.” And so I should have stopped when I first asked my husband to go there but then again it was meant to be for I had come across a new found treasure in this day.

While Sonatina (my daughter’s friend) and I were checking the tables for more souvenirs, my husband and Emma were taken hostage by the lady’s tales of her past. Emma was looking at an old pack sack which still was in good wear but had notice the straps missing. Upon hearing my daughter and husbands conversation she voluntarily gave the story to them on how has a young girl in Europe she had traveled all over and had carried that sack with her, the only part to not last, being the straps. She continued on talking to her friend taking notice that she had captured my husband’s and daughter’ attention and went on with her stories.

Then suddenly the distant sound of the trains whistle caught the girls and others attention. The electrifying excitement of upon first hearing the whistle’s “woo-wooo” sound in the distance had summoned them to the yards edge to view the approaching train. How queer some sounds like the whistle of a train can create such jumble of emotional feelings one senses upon its appearance-intrigue, excitement, adventure, nostalgia and romance.

The ever increasing dinging of its bells with the intensifying chopped sound of the clickety- clack on the tracks of the passing cars had froze the girls and hubby to a stance by the rails and as quickly as it came, the sound and train faded off into the far off mysterious, unknown distance. Oh, how the girls had hoped that they had left a coin on the tracks to remember the fleeting moment that had just passed but alas they had forgotten to place they’re coin unto the tracks. They returned back to the sale that stood unmoved and continued in they’re explorations. For a moments time they’re world had become a landscape of adventure and had filled their minds with passionate reveries.

The magical sound of Mozart playing in the background had now replaced the loud sounding whistle and I heard the lady say; “you know I’ve seen grown men run up to the tracks just to catch the train go by, they even buy their homes near the railway just so they can do just that! How so true what she had spoken, for I and everyone included there had stopped what they were doing. For reasons unknown, trains have this odd magnetic lure that just stops you right there and then and keep you in a trance until its last clank on the tracks.

Breaking the silence of our preoccupied minds the lady once again began to speak and mention another interesting fact. “You know that Mozart purposely put those breaks in his compositions just so you the listener could fill in the blanks”. Once again this lovely lady had said something that I could really relate to. Just like a good book or poem; leaving the reader to choose his personal meaning; but I never looked at music in that way until this day.

This courteous and gentle lady who now was joined by her husband, who was just as interesting as her, offered my husband some coffee and Dads cookies making sure that she explained; “they’re not for only dads you know? They’re for everyone as well.” This couple was made in heaven for they were a perfect match and even my husband had remarked; “I’m not so much a people person, but you couldn’t meet such more genuine and immensely fascinating people as them!

And so I poured myself a cup of coffee to warm my hands more than my body and paid her for the tokens that I had found. A seed pod that I had noticed next to the picture frames I’d bought, she gave me and told how she had come upon it from a lady who now had passed on and how she had such luck in growing the seeds that were inside. Never really finding out what these seeds were all about, I thanked her for her generosity and took my change back from the sale.She had dropped a penny on the ground and so I gave it back to her but she declined and said; “keep it, it’s for good luck!

We turned around to say our goodbyes to Angel{the dog}and the mesmerizing couple and were grateful to have had such a lovely, beautiful time on such a cold, dull and dreary day has this. Driving home I began to reflect upon my newly found little treasures and how they were in some sort of way significant as a group. The peachy Victorian dish was to keep my lucky penny in, the three frames to show dear memories, a rose tapestry and rose covered pitcher to keep my gathered flowers of the year, a seed pod to start new life and the littlest angel to keep a heavenly watch over us. Oh, yes - I almost forgot where it all began…finding that tiny bluebird of happiness near the old train tracks.


The country trek had nourished our spirits, our hearts and our souls with more then just physical objects to admire. It had brought us to a new road in our lives, for it showed how wonderful it was creating happy memorable moments in ones life and that maybe, just maybe you could find and acquire something of much greater value from meeting some rare, people who were truly beautiful from inside and radiated and touched your being with their aura and gift of divine peace and joy for life.

When I got home, I snuggled up in my jammies and flicked on my computer and started to write this story. When I looked to title the piece, I remembered how the house was called “Gospa House”. I searched for its meaning in German since the lady had said that she was but instead discovered that what it meant was “The Blessed Virgin Mary”. Our odyssey had not only physically brought us to a small quaint town in spring, but to the source of a closer relationship with God.


And as I was writing this, my husband sent me an email with a poem that he had just wrote for his reason and his daughters why they had stood standing out there in the rain outside that comforting shed. And when I read the poem it then all made sense to me that it wasn’t I after all that they were laughing at but at the scene that had unfolded in front of their  very eyes. A moment had been captured and a memory stored in a poem that clearly spoke of what the whole day meant! The rainy day had uncovered a brilliant jewel of sharing, love and laughter.Someday, I’ll take the girls and dad back to that very special place and rest their coins onto the tracks and watch for the train to pass on by and make more of those happy, cherished memories like the ones that had graced our day, that we together spent.

~Annabelle~



The Spider and The Lady

It was early in the morning
At the entrance to a shed
We watched a spider dandled down
Looking to be feed
We stood outside in the pouring rain
Just me and Emma Peel
She looked my way as if to say
I’m not no spider meal
It was raining hard, we were getting wet
There were treasures inside for sure
I would check for bargains once inside
But only after her
Then suddenly without a word
As we were standing there
The lady who had just walked out
Had the spider in her hair
The way was clear, it was alright now
We could find our deals inside
We could have told the lady but
To hell with foolish pride
She knew that she was on her own
She knew the price to pay
It’s everybody for themselves
For this was garage sale day

~Stan 







3 comments:

Gena said...

Hi,fabulous inspirational post! thank you for sharing and thank you for dropping by my blog!blessings xx

Anonymous said...

dear Annabelle, thank you for visiting my blog and leaving comments. I've just spend part of this rainy Mother's Day evening enjoying reading your blog and saved this long GREAT story of your family day of seek and find teasures for last to read. I enjoyed so much all your poetic posts. Lovely blog Annabelle and I'll visit often your life on the pages at Dreamer #9.

Annabelle said...

Dear Carolyn,
Thanks for the lovely compliments.
Annabelle

MIDNIGHT MARGARITAS

MIDNIGHT MARGARITAS
A place for keeping my art in larger formats

*** Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ***

*** Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ***
“Where there is no imagination there is no horror”. Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.

*** Sir Christopher Lee ***

*** Sir Christopher Lee ***
“There are many vampires in the world today - you only have to think of the film business”

* ~ Spirit of the Night ~

* ~ Spirit of the Night ~
Soon it will be Hallows Eve...Time to create Art from the Dark Side ***Annabelle

~ Turn of the Screw ~

~ Turn of the Screw ~
A Flickr mosaic I made some time ago ~ Annabelle

WE WERE SOLDIERS

WE WERE SOLDIERS
~ Annabelle

Twilight at Sea


The Twilight Hours like birds flew by,
As lightly and as free;
Ten thousand stars were in the sky,
Ten Thousand on the sea;
For every wave with dimpled face,
That leaped upon the air,
Had caught a star in its embrace,
And held it trembling there.

Amelia Coppuck Welby

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