"There's Treasure Everywhere," as Bill Waterson aptly titles one of his Calvin and Hobbes Collections. Thus is the feeling of the Viking Longboat housed in an estate sale in Alexandria, Virginia.
I’m not an impulse buyer. In order for me to buy something it needs to serve some sort of extremely important purpose. I can buy clothes to keep me warm, food to keep me nourished, blank dvds to serve my media needs. But I would never buy a trinket just because it looks cool. Yet, an unexpected encounter with a Viking Longboat blew my frugal convictions right out of the water.
I voyaged to an Estate sale, accompanying my friend Erin Lee in her quest to find a type writer, when lo and behold a ship so artfully etched and steeped in Viking lore arrested my senses, like a lingonberry in the tundra. Priced at $36, I could almost breathe easy, knowing there’s no way in hell I would splurge for such a novelty item.
Yet my drive to barter coupled with the woman of the estate’s good nature proved that the $36 was not a fixed price, and the initial price offering was highly negotiable.
Thoughts began flooding into my head. “This ship is no ordinary vessel… It radiates rape, rampage, pillage and plunder…the boat splits into three compartments, made to stow a trifecta of whatever the heart so desires.”
After stewing over the decision for a few more minutes I realized resistance was futile. I offered $15 she gave me $16 – I came, I saw, it conquered. Viking longboat you are now a permanent fixture in my life and I must say, fan jag är glad!
