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| Dinky's Auction Center 9084 E 550 N, Montgomery, IN 47558 |
Your first impression will probably be that you have arrived at the cross-section of humanity. Everybody seems interested in being there and is lining up. They're lining up for food, lining up to get their bidding card, lining up for a good view of the action, or lining up to find out what the line they are standing in is for.
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| What's My Line? |
So what's in those buildings? Well, what do you want? Based on a quick glance tonight you could have had hay, lumber, tools, furniture, old riding mowers, or this cute little windcatcher.
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| Look Ma, No Power Lines! |
Another building had fruits, vegetables, wheels, and fishing reels. Next door was rabbits, piglets, and critters that fit in boxes or small cages. And next door to that larger animals were being auctioned. For each selection somebody with a microphone was extolling the virtues of the offering and speaking just slowly enough to make you confident about what you were spending. And just quickly enough that you were not entirely certain.
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| Wagons. Buggies. |
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| Wheels. Reels.The Thrill of Deals |
If you're noticing a disproportionate number of patrons keeping their waistbands elevated with suspenders or coifs contained with bonnets, you need to know where Dinky's is.
Dinky's lies in the heart of Daviess County's Amish and Mennonite communities. As you drive past these homes, there is marvelous pride of ownership. The yards are in shape, the flowerbeds are bursting with color, and you know an incredible amount of work is expended to keep things this way.
So how do you get to Dinky's? It really depends where you're coming from. It may even depend upon how you're getting there, as this sign suggests.
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| Not a Volkswagen Reference |
The gathering of vehicles was as colorful as they folks who drove them there. Many were motorized. Here are some of my favorites.
Most of these did not have really huge engines. My guess is about one horsepower.
But the bodies were solid, well-tended, and in some cases imaginatively decorated.
Another item being offered in the buildings was food. Tonight the special was root beer floats. One of us got one of those. I do not like embarrassing my mother, so I won't share who it was. Thank you for understanding. The rest of us enjoyed either chicken tenders, a cheeseburger, or a tenderloin sandwich. Another selection available was cotton candy. It brings us to one of my favorite stories. See the booth? Mmm. Cotton candy. See the sign? We can help with what again? The booth and the Life Change business are owned by the same person. My mother asked one of the girls about it and she just smiled and said, "Well, we like to fatten them up a little before we help them lose weight." And that, my friends, is the soul of complementary business models.
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| Life Change Here. Start with the Cotton Candy. |
See if you can figure out which person in the following picture is driving the hardest bargain. I'm not certain either, but we are having homemade egg noodle pasta with our eggs for breakfast tomorrow, so it seems like a win-win to me. Well done, Mrs. C!
In the food area, we could also have had candy bars. But we wouldn't eat Snickers. We might have had 5th Avenue. We might have had Almond Joy. We might have had a Heath bar, but we couldn't have had Snickers.
You see, not all the animals we saw were for sale. One fellow had the cutest black piglet cradled in his ample embrace. It was just relaxing there with its damp little nose occasionally twitching, more than willing to be carried anywhere that fellow was going. Another was a three-week-old kid whose mother had ignored it. So its humans took over.
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| Bottle Baby |
The woman and young girl leading the kid around were doing a great job with him. I asked them what his name was and they said Snickers. I can see it, can't you? The chocolate leggings, the nougat coat, the touches of caramel. There's probably even a metaphor for nuts in there somewhere, but I'll leave that to your own vivid imagination. This little fellow was precious, hopping around, then jumping, then running back and forth.
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| Snickers |
Before you run out and get your own Snickers, just let me remind you of something. Meet Zero.
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| Zero |
Once upon a time, Zero was a lot like Snickers. I know. It's hard to believe. One day much sooner than you'd like to believe, it may be very difficult to find a halter that easily slips over Snicker's protuberances. Just think ahead, okay?
Even the best evenings end. This is done to make way for tomorrows. Unlike our neighbors, we left nearly as lightly loaded as we arrived. And it was good.
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| Homeward Bound |
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