The Writer's Pen

It's that time of year again, my favorite weekend of the year. I dubbed it Curbside Supply a long time ago. In fact I used to call the city clerk's office to inquire when it would be. At first she was puzzled until I could explain. The next time I called she knew exactly what I was calling about.

We went to Worthington the other day for Bruce's physical therapy. When we pulled into town, I noticed lots of trash and other stuff out at the curb. I got so excited and told Bruce, " Look – Curbside Supply today! Let's take a tour when you're finished."

This has been my favorite place to shop for decades. In fact, most of my household furnishings have been purchased at Curbside Supply or from the back yard of a household auction. They always put the worse furniture and things in the back yard of the sale.

I found one piece that I'd been wanting for a long time. It was an entertainment center from the 80s or 90s. You can make them into the cutest child's play kitchen. The sad thing was it was too big and there was no way the two of us, with our ancient bodies, could have lifted it up into the van. At this stage of the game I probably wouldn't have been able to do the work anyway, so sadly I had to leave it there. There were some other things that I had to leave including a large 6-7' tall, very plain cupboard. In days past I could have done some nice things to it. I do so hope someone else could see these things through my eyes. It hurts my heart to see things thrown away and smashed up by the garbage truck when they could be useful for another couple decades with a little fixing and paint.

I've been shopping Curbside Supply for probably close to 30 years. At first I went out shopping after dark so no one would see me until I began to notice people out during the daytime. Everyone isn't looking for the same thing. Some are looking for metal for recycling. I don't think many were looking for furniture like I was. I've found a couple tall curio shelves for the living room, a cupboard frame that I turned into a pie safe. I found some old barn wood that I've built into a cupboard or two, a couple of tall antique headboards, a large set of wooden drawers for a work bench for the garage and other things that I can't remember.

I have my own power tools. I bought a table saw and a 12" planer and the usual drill drivers (two or three of them), and my husband has all kinds of tools as well. He used to do carpenter work. The pieces I liked the best were the ones that were in terrible shape. It was a challenge to repair them into usable condition and I always won.

I've spent hours upon hours repairing and refinishing pieces. I've gone through gallons of paint stripper. After all that I wanted to see if I could build a cupboard. I started with a small chimney cupboard. It went so well that I decided on a much bigger project – a 7' tall and 42"wide step back design with panel doors. That was SO much fun to build. I loved every minute of it from stripping the boards off the side of a barn (with landowner's permission) to planing the boards to the finished painted project.

Hours and hours of fun. How I wish I could still do it but Mother won't let me any more.

Janet Bronson is a former resident of Hartley, having lived here for over 40 years. Her husband was pastor of the Baptist Church and she was a school cook for 27 years. They now live in Adrian, Minn., where Bruce is pastor of First Baptist Church.