I STOPPED BY A NEARBY LAND AUCTION ON MY WAY TO SOUTH BEND TO TAPE THE SHOW THIS WEEK. THERE ARE FEW SPECTATOR SPORTS MORE ENJOYABLE FOR FARMERS THAN WATCHING A NEIGHBOR SPEND ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF MONEY IN PUBLIC.
JUST LIKE CHURCH, THE BACK ROWS WERE CROWDED WITH ONLOOKERS AND SECRETIVE BIDDERS, WITH THE MORE SERIOUS PARTICIPANTS SEATED SOMEWHAT CLOSER. I WAS STRUCK BY THE AGE OF THE AUDIENCE - IT'S NOT TOO OFTEN WHEN I'M IN A PUBLIC GATHERING AND REALIZE I'M BELOW THE MEDIAN AGE.
BUT AUCTIONS LIKE THIS ARE A GREAT PLACE TO SEE NEIGHBORS WHO WE MAY HAVE MISSED DURING THE WINTER, AND I VISITED WITH SEVERAL BEFORE THE BIDDING BEGAN. I FOUND OUT ABOUT FAMILY HAPPENINGS AND CHILDREN UPDATES, DIVORCES AND DEATHS, AND OF COURSE, WHO WAS FARMING WHAT LAND THIS YEAR.
THE AUCTION WAS SLIGHTLY DISAPPOINTING FOR MANY I THINK. A NEIGHBORING FARMER BOUGHT ONE ADJACENT PARCEL, AS WE ALL EXPECTED. THE SECOND PARCEL WAS PURCHASED BY A FATHER-SON PARNERSHIP IN THE AREA AFTER REMARKABLY BRIEF BIDDING. ON THE WHOLE, FEW OF US COULD REACH ANY CONCLUSION ABOUT WHAT THESE TWO SMALL FIELDS MEANT TO THE OVERALL LAND MARKET.
STILL, I'M GLAD I WAS THERE. NOT EVERY AUCTION CAN BE A NAIL-BITING DRAMA, BUT ANY EXCUSE TO GOSSIP WITH OLD FRIENDS SEEMS LIKE A GOOD IDEA THESE DAYS.
