Unbelievable

Good Morning.   We have a bit of rain this morning and I am happy to see it as it means saving on the water bill and I don't have to go out and haul the hose around.   Nothing lazy about me.   It is not good news for the Kite Festival and all the folks who have come to town to see the thirty kite handlers showing off their beautiful and wondrous flying beauties.   Meanwhile, I came across a very interesting e-mail and maybe some of you have already seen it, but it is what I call blog material.   A news story that catches the imagination and the eye.   The caption said: "The Millers" and showed a picture of a dilapidated barn with junk in the yard and old cars.    I immediately thought of the brother and sister who lived in Newport, R.I. and salvaged junk much to the dismay of their neighbors.   Well, here we have another story of Alex and Imogene Miller of East Orange, Vermont.   Alex died in 1993 and Imogne in 1996.   The local church took up a collection so they could be buried in the church yard and the state began the process of taking the farm for back taxes.     It was not long before the sheriff discovered bearer bonds taped to a mirror and very old antique cars and parts.   An estate auction, handled by Christies brought collectors from all over the world.  Imagine looking at a 1913 Stutz Bearcat, Blackhawks, Duper bearcats, and spare parts for all of them.  A treasure trove of cars wrapped in burlap so no one could see them if they were looking into the old shacks and barn windows.     The auction lasted three days and the IRS took a hefty chunk for back taxes.

Alex Miller was a Rutgers Grad, son of a wealthy financier who founded Miller's Flying Service in 1930.   He operated a gyrocopter which he had hidden in a shed.   There were more antique cars and at the end of the auction the final total was 2.18 million; 1 million in gold;  75,000 in silver and 400,000 in stocks . . . all in all it proves the old adage about the only two things in life that are certain and that is "Death and Taxes."

I cannot imagine the poverty they lived in.   Their church folks kept them in food and looked after them.   Alex and Imogene lived the lives of paupers and it makes me wonder why.     I just hope the state remembered all the good deeds the church folks did and compensated them in the end.   There is a lesson here about hoarding and fear.    I wonder if the state did some good with  their share of all that money, and then what did the IRS do with the rest of it?    I guess we will never know.   


So today, your weekend is beginning, make your seconds count.     If it is raining in your neck of the woods, smile and take a walk out in it.    I love walking in the rain.     Look around for a yard sale or two and see if you can find a treasure or two.   I'll be thinking of you and hoping your day is every bit as nice as you are.  Hugs to all.