The Ill Wind

Rain is lashing down on our metal-roofed house this morning, and the wind is gusting so hard that every wind chime in the neighborhood is clamoring. Including the one I made from a yard-sale xylophone

and the wonderful rusty bell I picked up last summer.

It’s the perfect theme song for Friday’s thrifting adventure, which we can entitle “It’s an Ill Wind that Blows Nobody Good.” You know that old saying, right? I’ve always taken it to mean that something good comes out of just about every circumstance.

So Friday morning I was on the road to Portland, taking a friend to the airport for a flight to Ohio. (The one downside to living in Salem is, you have to go to Portland to fly anywhere. Unless you’re in the National Guard and for moi, driving to P’land is the more practical option.) I was kind of excited because it gave me a chance to go to some estate sales up there. I had four addresses programmed into Grace, my GPS, and with hope in my heart I zoomed away from the airport.

And all four were a complete bust. Absolutely nothing I could use, and high prices to boot. Except at the third place where stuff was half priced because the sale had already run for several days…but pretty much nothing was left. Sigh.

But en route to the last address my cell phone rang. It was the friend I’d dropped off. The airport at her destination had been closed because of weather, so her trip had to be canceled. And thanks to those estate sales I was still in Portland and could easily pick her up and take her home again!