Memorial Day weekend is host to one of my favorite events of the year: the Port Costa citywide garage sale.
Port Costa is a funky little town right on the bay that I used to blow past on the train when I was a conductor for a freight line. Back in the day, it was a thriving railroad town that was home to the ferry terminals that transported trains across the bay.
Today, it’s a sweet old town of about 200 people, less than an hour from San Francisco but kept safe and quiet by the single narrow winding road that leads into town and the sheer will of its residents (many of whom are artists, bikers, or both).
And once a year, they sell all their awesome old stuff.
They also know how to live it up. Every other house sells a little extra something next to their cast-offs: bakery treats, lemonade, or – more often – slightly more adult beverages, like cold beer or boozy popsicles. So you end up drinking your way down the street, to where the Warehouse bar is waiting for you, then drinking your way back up the other side.
Which is how I ended up spending way too much for a casing for one of my shrines. I needed a couple more forms, though I had picked up some Easter baskets that would work, for 75 cents each. But then… I passed this. And I had to have it, because it was built to hold a tiny Buddy Christ in its warm embrace. (And I was maybe a bit tipsy by then.)
Yes, that’s a mirror at the back of this glorious oak burl. By tomorrow, we will have this baby glammed out even more. Thank you, Port Costa, for giving me exactly what I need. You always do.
T-minus 4 days to departure!
America, The Strange 
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