Welcome To The Monkey House

There's just something about a small town all coming together in the late summer, other than for a lynching, I mean.

Every year at this time we take a trip through what is amusingly referred to as "the country" by us city folk. We make our destination the Annual Odessa Antique Show. It's normally a two hour highway drive from the city but we leave Toronto six hours early so that we can hit all the small town yard sales especially the annual town sale at Cramagh.


It's not that there are any great treasures to be found here. Now that everyone's a dealer, those finds are few and far between; but you can find some useful second-hand stuff, which you can later sell at your own yard sale after you discover that it's not really as useful as you'd hoped it might be.

It's just seems reassuring somehow to see townsfolk join in a greater community effort and it pays homage to the city held belief that small communities are the heart of this country; all coming together to help Jimmy Stewart in his hour of need.

I pause to wipe the tear from my cheek.

As I said, it's a common myth; country folk are just as human and miserable as the rest of us, but with better air and more grass to cut.





Aside from the large town sale in the park, there are many many others all along the highway: the legion hall; the library selling its discards; the big sale at the funeral home...hmm; the guy that lives in a church who has to move (the guy, not the church.)

I think that most small towns across North America have this kind of sale at this time of year, along with the Firehall BBQs, and Fall Fairs and all manner of harvest festivals.

I enjoy going, eating local foods, like Maple Leaf brand hot dogs and Maple Leaf brand bacon-on-a-bun and funnel cakes and Nanaimo bars.

I think a lot of city people go, some to dream of retiring to a small close knit community, others to remind themselves why they escaped rural life in the first place and that they're absolutely city folk.

I'm not sure what brings us, what draws us to these green acres and the life bucolic, but here we are just the same; on the outside looking in.

My best find was not something that's not terribly valuable, but there's a very important Fall Harvest Festival just around the corner. I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

Welcome to the monkey house.