This selection is about a third of the size of what it used to be!

I absolutely love Trash To Treasure Week in Lacombe!

Let me count the ways...

I am defintely more of a "seller" than a "buyer" during this semi-annual event, and after taking a quick tour around our fair city, I think I am in the lead for Most Items On The Curb, Most Bikes On The Curb and Most Crazy Carpets On The Curb.

All the bikes and crazy carpets have been scooped up, by the way, so I guess I could qualify for Most Bikes And Crazy Carpets Given Away too.

Is there someone with the city that I should contact about receiving those accolades?

But I digress...

I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder.  Maybe closer to a pack rat, or maybe somewhere in between.  I have a difficult time seeing useful items go to waste. I also don't have the time or patience or motivation to have a garage sale or list things online for sale as often as I likely should.

So I take a lot of satisfaction in seeing the big piles of useful items, just no longer useful to me, slowly dwindle over the week to go to folks that can use them.

With the nice weather this past weekend, I also appreciated taking the time chatting with people, safely distanced of course, as they perused the items I had to offer free of charge.  Some were taken aback at first as I struck up conversations, but nearly all fell nicely into a rhythm of explaining how they'd been looking all over for one thing or how they were building another thing or that they would make this new thing out of that old thing.  It is so gratifying to me that the majority of the items that have left my house this week will find a greater use elsewhere.

One of my favourite interactions was with a lady that rolled up as I was placing another articl up for grabs.  She quickly looked over the old set of golf clubs I had set out, the first I had ever owned. She grabbed one, glanced my way and remarked happily, "I just needed a 9 Iron!" and off she went. The rest of the clubs were gone by that evening.

With so many reuseable items gone, there's still a few items at the end of my driveway that are in great shape that I hope will find a new home with someone who can use them.

I realize as I write this that I almost sound like I'm giving away puppies or kittens and personifying them in the same way.

But, in a way, that's just how I feel about a lot of the items that I've been reluctant to let go.

Because with a lot that I've seen disappear this year and in years past that, in many cases, I've held on to for much longer than I probably should have, there's one or several memories that go along with them. From the aformentioned first set of golf clubs, to the bikes that my 5 children have used over the years, to toy boxes used by several generations, to the toaster oven I received from my grandmother's collection of items that I was bequeathed after she passed away several years ago.

Knowing that there's lovely people in Central Alberta that will make memories of their own with these castoffs, for free at that, makes Trash To Treasure Week, for me at least, one of the most wonderful times of the year.   

Now get out there and go treasure hunting before the weather turns!

-- Adam Hamilton