Why must it always rain on Swap Day?

Why must it always rain when people are unloading large furniture pieces, cleaning out the garage, being a good swap mate and bringing an unwanted "something" to share with the crowd? It didn't stop the cars from rolling in at a good pace with goodies to donate, nor did it stop the auctioneer with a persistent group of bidders from keeping their spots near the front. But it did continue to rain.

This expectant mother scored some great finds in the kiddie corner. She was smart and came with rain gear. It was just what my Mom would call, "spitting" rain when I arrived, but then it actually got a lot wetter than that, so I said goodbye to the intrepid swappers and left.

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This was my one and only score of the day - a vintage edition of the board game, Clue. I was proud of this bit of swapping - but I had to be quick, those swappers get pretty territorial and I wasn't prepared to put up a fight without at least one more cup of coffee in me.

Renton shapes up

They meet every Saturday morning on the jungle gym where the Cedar River Trail meets the southeast corner of the Renton Memorial Stadium parking lot. Carolyn is the defacto leader - though she demurely denied the title when asked. There seems to be a circuit of workout exercises, but someone in the know pairs up with a newbie, and you are good to go. There is great camaraderie here, lots of wisecracks and general bonhomie - and all are welcome. Hey, they even invited me to join!

I apologize in advance if I caught anyone there on Saturday in a compromising position. They were all tremendous good sports and I could see that there were many levels of exercise abilities at play within the group. I think it would be safe to go and give it a try - regardless your gym class proficiency ( or let's cut to the chase - lack thereof!)

After a good sweat, and a lot of groaning ( or so it seemed to me) the newly tuckered out retire to the Common Ground Cupcakes and Coffee Shop on South Third Street to have a cup of coffee and kvetch. It ain't called Pain in the Grass for nothin'!