If we had a contest for most creative sale description among West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day listings, this year’s winner would likely be Sale #572 on the map, a Gatewood sale whose host wrote the description a la Dr. Seuss:

Cat in the Hat?
Thing One and Thing Two?
A plant or a seashell could be right for you!
Shirts and pants, shells and plants –
Books for cooks, books for crooks!
Oddities that not ought to be –
Should belong to you not me!

Reviewing the descriptions is one of our favorite things about coordinating West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, which is now six days away – next Saturday, May 9, with a WSCGSD-record 640+ sales of all sizes and types, all around West Seattle and a bit beyond. They’re all on the map, which you can explore here, and on the 38-page printable (PDF) list, which you’ll find here. Both versions are searchable if there’s something in particular you’re looking for – at least in topline terms like clothing, furniture, baby stuff, camping gear – or if you want to stay close to home, even something as simple as walking to the nearest sale and meeting a neighbor, you can check the clickable map to see what’s near you, and click on any marker to open the infobubble with its address and description. Back to the point of creativity – we also note classic garage-sale terms – this year’s descriptions include five promising “ephemera” (162, 271, 316, 338, 428), seven with “knickknacks” (146, 160, 197, 34, 462, 552, 641), two with “tchotchkes” (21, 146), and one with “bric-a-brac” (291). The word “vintage” appears in 97 descriptions, far outranking “antique,” which appears in 36. Instructions for searching descriptions via the map are below it; we’ll roll out some lists as the week goes on – starting with nonprofit/benefits and a few others.

P.S. The four corners this year are – northernmost sale is #163 in North Admiral (whose host says they’re a repeat WSCGSD participant), westernmost sale #303 inland from Alki Point, easternmost sale #83 in South Park (Floor Coverings International), and southernmost sale #636, a repeat seller in Seola.