That shit i said before?

About the free sign season kicking into high gear? Bullshit. Memorial Day weekend is when it really kicks into high gear. I only got about half of them and left the others right where they were.

Free sign season kicks into high gear!

A mélange of free from a mix of folks

Knee high by the 4th

Bags of corn, artfully arranged with free-ish signs, sent in by loyal reader and inveterate aficionado of the off-kilter, Claire M. A stick of butter and a cylinder of salt goes out to Claire as our little way of saying "thanks!" Seriously? Why do they put that shit in cylinders?

Free flourishes

Some slackers evidently feel that it's sufficient to simply stake a sign with the solitary word "free" on it. Others feel, apparently, that a little extra is called for. Something about this text made me turn the car around on the way home from golf. The boy took the shot. He's the best. A carton of Titleist pro v.1s goes out to loyal reader Moss M. as our little way of saying "thanks."

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

It was a great day for free signs in Rhinebeck, NY this Sunday. Here's what we found:

Free is a lonely road

Loyal reader and occasional friend . . . no. Wait. Occasional reader and loyal friend A grrr sends in this actually really great shot from out Woodstock way. A 36 exposure, well preserved canister of Kodachrome film goes out to A grrr as out little way of saying "thanks" and keep up the good work!! (Good luck with the processing.)

A bushel and a peck

And a basket of free, "dedicated", as the inscription reads, "to the glory of god and human welfare." Which is, grammatically, an interesting dedication. Is it dedicated to the glory of "god and human welfare"? Kinda as one conjoined idea? Or is it dedicated to two separate things? And if so, shouldn't this dedication pay a little more attention to that thing the stern grammar teachers call "parallel structure"? (And when do the quotation marks go inside the punctuation and when do they go outside?) Should it actually read: "Dedicated to the glory of god and [to] human welfare."?

Regardless, a copy of Strunk & White's classic, The Elements of Style, illustrated by Maira Kalman, goes out to new contributor Barbara S., as our little way of saying "thanks!". Exclamation, end quote.

Astoria. Queens. New York City. Sent in by Barbara S.

Rhinebeck, N.Y.

Dr. K!

A few from steadfast reader Jenny K., whose daughter just graduated high school. Holy crap, where does the time go? A free trip in a time machine to go back and do it all over again goes out to Jenny K. as out little way of saying "thanks".

From the deep south

Thanks to an undisclosed Desario for sending in this free sign from the mean streets of the New York's gritty West Village. A big bag of top round from Dickson's Farmstand Meats goes out to them for their summer bbq pleasure as our little way of saying 'thanks.'

Like the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, the free signs have winged their way back into town!

This is the free sign you see on the back of the milk cartons. The blurry "last seen" photo of a run away free sign. Sent in by fab reader Jill W. A Greyhound Unlimited 60 day bus pass ($499 value) goes out to Jill W. as our little way of saying "thanks."

As seen in Rhinebeck, NY.

Hudson Valley Indoor Tennis, Kingston, NY.

South Street. Rhinebeck, NY

South Parsonage St., Rhinebeck, NY

Yard sale, Rhinebeck, NY

Same yard sale, above, and below.

Winter! It's cold and snowy!!

Lake Hill luminary and Mink Hollow sweetheart Cecilie R. sends in this pic from the winter of 2015. Which, by the way, seems just like winter to me. Seriously, every freakin' winter, everybody freaks the freak out like it's the first time they've ever seen snow or felt cold. It's winter, people. Spring is next. Carry on. Oh yeah, a carton of Duraflame fatwood firestarters goes out to CR as our little way of saying "thanks."

Up on blocks in the front yard . . .

. . . right here on tony South St. in upscale Rhinebeck, NY.

Place

Newly loyal reader Eric S. sends in this little gem from Who-knows-where, (which is right next to E. Bumfuck on Googlemaps). Anyway, it's a lovely sign and a lovely shot and we're sending out a gross of mini U.S. flags to Eric as our little way of saying "thanks."

O, Free!

From our neighbor to the north and NAFTA partner extraordinaire, comes this fab free photo courtesy of loyal reader Anne CH. 

In honor of this, the post that makes us a truly international blog, we reproduce the first verse of their national anthem, "O, Canada."

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land, glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee;
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

2 "frees" in that verse. Not too bad, but really, some of those "thee's" could be changed to "free's", non? Anyway, a big "merci" to reader ACH and, perhaps, that Canada plate from the post below, as our little way of saying "thanks".

Cleaning out the free file

A gaggle of free signs from the last few months; I'm pretty sure none of these have been posted before, but if so, I beg your pardon.