We knew that something was going on with the neighbors across the street.

One of those large storage cubes, which sat in their driveway one weekend, was filled and hauled away the following Monday. Then, an advertised three-day estate sale—though both owners were alive and well—seemed successful, as folks arrived from 10-5 each day, most leaving with all sorts of goodies…furniture, lamps, lawn mowers, ladders, tools, exercise equipment. Purchases that were too large to carry away on-the-spot were tucked into the far end of their driveway for pick-up at the buyer’s convenience. That same week, people came to look at one of their two cars, and within a couple of days, it, too, was gone. Then, this past Saturday, the forty-something couple hoisted bulging suitcases into their already full car and hit the proverbial road, and we haven’t seen them since.

Wow, we thought. Did they just do what we think they did? Did they execute a major downsizing, selling almost all to move on and forever escape the upkeep of a single family home…maintenance, cutting grass, raking leaves, cleaning gutters? Have they possibly moved out-of-state, to someplace bereft of humid summers and freezing winters? Someplace where they can ride their mountain bikes year round? Wherever they are, they definitely seemed to have had a plan, and we wish them well. And that plan is sounding awfully tempting…

And the household items that had no takers? They were left alongside a garbage can on the curb at the end of their driveway…an uninteresting chair, a broken umbrella, an overpriced walking stick, a laundry basket, a kitty’s scratching post and…a full size leather sofa. What? The leather sofa I’ve been pining for, but wouldn’t spend the money on even if I had it? The leather sofa that would replace our 15-year-old tuxedo style one with its shifting cushions, impractical fabric and ill-fitting slipcover? That leather sofa? I am a die-hard dumpster diver and love a good find, so, being about 99.9% certain that it was left for trash pickup, we took a chance and shamelessly shuffled it across the street to its new home. Despite some scratches and claw marks, mostly on one arm (from their kitty, I assume) and a broken brace that caused some sagging (which W has since fixed), it is perfectly fine and quite nice.

A new beginning, hopefully for the neighbors and most definitely for their sofa.