Daniel is a garage sales junkie.
He didn’t start out that way. When we first met he was actually rather baffled about the idea of garage sales. “Why would you want to buy someone else’s junk?” he would say, whenever I expressed interest in going. For some reason, he really did have a low opinion of them.
This all changed about 10 years ago when we moved to Hudson. First let me describe this town we have grown to love and are proud to call home. It’s a picturesque place on the lake of Two Mountains, about 60 km west of Montreal, where city people go when they want to take a drive to the country for the weekend to visit the numerous antique stores, clothing boutiques, flea market, village theatre and restaurants. It has a population of only 5,000 but included in that are some pretty well-off people who seem to move around a lot. Therefore lots of moving sales with some amazing bargains.
These days Daniel is one of the regulars in town who circles the ads in the local paper and, coffee mug in hand, makes the rounds on Saturday mornings as soon as spring kicks in. These regulars include the real estate agent who sold us our house – she drives a Jaguar convertible and is some sort of property mogul. Another woman I know buys and refinishes furniture for clients.
Sometimes Daniel comes home empty-handed, but occasionally he gets lucky. We’ve gotten high-end skis and boots for next to nothing, rollerblades that were practically brand new, shelving for the garage and basement, a dollhouse for Mia, assorted lamps and chairs. Obviously the thought of a bargain is first and foremost but right behind that is the more satisfying one of re-using perfectly good objects and not adding to the stuff sent to the landfills!










