I mentioned earlier that I would write about the auction I attended Saturday. It was an estate auction and was held on the front lawn of the residence. I stopped at a few garage sales on the way to the auction, but as it was already afternoon, I found nothing. I did see a two nice large framed watercolor prints among a half dozen pieces of art at the last sale. The prints were of a nice color and design, and even at the cheap price of $10 each, they were too large to be carrying back to Montana on the train. I have enough crap. One of the women holding the sale told me they had sold lots of artwork earlier that morning.
The auction had nothing of interest to me. I already mentioned seeing the Halloween masks from my youth. Some boxes may have held a few other items of interest or need but I had no desire to look through any. I only looked at items I could see and not had to touch.
The auction was held by Korslien, an auctioneer I knew from when I lived here decades ago. He is obese and had to sit on a specially made bench and chair except when he walked to another location. I took some photos of him to show my mother who knew him.
Austin came over to say hello. Not expecting anyone I knew, and not with an ability to pick people out of a crowd, I missed seeing him until he came up to me.
"Do you have a pickup here?"
Yes I did. My brother's. Austin had an eye on a desk, or something like that, and needed a pickup. I offered to take it to his house if he purchased it. Austin went over to be in position for bidding and I remained. I then noticed my reflection in a dresser mirror. I looked out of place among the crowd.
Austin did not purchase the desk. He did buy a rain suit for a dollar only to find it a size too small. We stood on the sidewalk with our backs to the sale and chatted about this and that, all the while I tried to keep a little distance between us as Austin was just recovering from a bad case of the flu or gunk.
While chatting with Austin I noticed another couple came and stood on my right side listening in on our conversation. I didn't acknowledge them until I finished my point with Austin. I thought Austin knew them, but he didn't. I turned to look at them and waited for one to speak.
The guy asked, "Is there a purpose for you taking photos? What do you plan to do with them?"
I was taken aback slightly and then told him I had no plans for the photos as they were taken for my interest. He then told me that my picture taking was making some people nervous and he would appreciate it if I didn't take any more photos. I had no more plans to do so and told him that. They then left.
Huh? I have traveled in third world countries where the locals got upset when people took photos without permission, and I respected their wishes. But this is America, and a public place. People here do not have a cultural superstition on photo taking, especially in a public gathering. Other than the auctioneer I wasn't taking photos of anyone else.
Austin brought up that undercover police have been known to frequent auctions in small towns looking for suspects who surface for the auction. This guy had a bland pudgy small town policeman look to him. Hmmm.. Later I searched the small crowd for another look at him but he was gone. It wasn't just my poor crowd scanning ability, Austin couldn't see him either.
So... he could have been an undercover cop who didn't want his photo taken. Or some of these old and retired joes and jills could be drug dealers or criminals? Or as my friend Rod later put it, the estate could be in contention and the estate could be nervous about photo taking as something may be sold that shouldn't be.
I stood out - just like in a third world country, though maybe not as much so - and that didn't help when people wondered why I was taking photos.
After another 20 minutes or so I left as Austin was waiting to bid on another item. There was nothing more I wanted.
The auctioneer and his brother.
The crowd and items for sale. Books and more books. Do you see any criminals or undercover cops in the photos? I don't. But what do I know?
Horns and trains. The train prints were by Larry Fischer. The nine train prints sold for only $52.50. A good price if you wanted them. I own a large print by Fischer that my mother hangs on her wall.
Suspicious guy.
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