My van failed to pass inspection last May and I sold it yesterday, marking the true end to my art fair gypsy life.
I’d long ago cut out the rainy/cold/windy/beastly hot/snowy! outdoor shows. Then along came a little virus. No indoor shows. And last year, aside from a very small, easy, one-day show just down the road, I did not travel. Moving on to other things.
But since I absolutely HATE buying and selling cars, I only just put the van on the market last week. Now it’s gone. Ahh.
I took advice from a friend about how to post it. Put it up on my Facebook page, hoping the friend who’d bought both my loveseat and Honda Accord, would feel the need to own an old van with 209,000 miles on it. Mostly highway! Nope. I then had to offer it to strangers. Nerve-wracking. I was asking $2500, as Edmonds’ suggested.
Right away, like the naive old lady I once heard loudly reading off her credit card number, three-digit code and expiration date into a phone at a thrift store (true), I got scammed. A flurry of messages asked me to give my cell phone number so they could send me a code and, as I found out, grab my number and use it to get into my Google account and scam other people. Don’t ever do this!! I foolishly did it one time, against everything my body and intuition were telling me, then feverishly called one son and then another, to fix it. How would I get along without them? What was I thinking?? I know better!! And yet. Old Lady.
Then there were the lowball offers. Who makes an offer sight unseen, anyway? Several offered $1000. One of those said he could throw in some “firearms” if I was interested. My only interest in firearms is that they be outlawed! I wanted to say (yell). Another offered $300. Cash!
In the end and rather quickly I sold it to a guy who said it was for a good cause. Piqued my interest, of course. I checked it out and it’s all true. He is a lovely man who knows two of the nicest people I know and who is creating a transitional living house for people struggling with addiction. Since I once worked in that field, I was happy to let him have it for less than I’d wanted. So my trusty green Toyota, which has had a pretty beautiful life already, will be transporting people who are trying to better their lives. La! Both I and the van are moving on, in good ways. I like it.
“Girls, you’ve gotta know when it’s time to turn the page.” ― Tori Amos
“There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it.” ― Shannon L. Alder
“We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.” ― C. JoyBell C.
If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.
Thanks for listening,
Kay
P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”
