Treasure beyond your wildest dreams.

Sweet Aunt Jo and I went to a farm auction. In a cold, tin shed stood a greedy mob, looking for the finest remnant to carry away for a dollar or two. The perimeter of the room was stacked with stuff, delightful items, mysterious devices. Look! Its an antique sausage stuffer. Ahoy! An old sailor suit. Schwing! A Girly poster. All around the room, the murmur of the day, the credo of the crowd- "we used to have one of them".
As our feet continued to freeze, we still were intrigued. I held out to bid for a beautiful patchwork quilt. Sold for 50 dollars, to someone else.
By golly, there's an old army helmet. Sold, for 50 dollars. For an army helmet? What a maroon.
I had set aside and consolidated 2 boxes of mixed color Fiesta Ware. When it came up and the cowboy lifted it high in the air, I waited... waited.... waited.... bid 15 dollars. Hooray! No one wanted it but me. Triumph.
Now that I reflect on it, we should have stuck around for the other items I spied. I now have regrets. Wasn't that japanese print a tiny woodblock masterpiece? That dusty Currier and Ives print was original- certainly. Early photographs in broken frames. They may be nondescript buildings but Atget could have taken them.
I'll never know. I wasn't meant to know.