Icon for sale.

Buried somewhere in the front yard at the new house is a St. Joseph statue. There are many people who believe that burying this upside down in your yard will lead to the quick sale of your home. Apparently, he is the patron saint of carpentry and home selling. I’ve just read articles from people swearing by this as an effective method of procuring offers on their homes. And one of my neighbors, whose house has been on the market for a long time, recently confided in me that, she too, has buried a St. Joseph statue in her yard - though it should be stated that 4 months later her house still has a for sale sign in the front yard.

I am rather skeptical of the whole thing. First and foremost, I do not have a religious bone, muscle, cell or synapse in my entire body. Secondly, I don’t believe in tricks or spells or mumbo-jumbo. And the whole “bury a saint in your yard to sell your house” incongruously reeks of both religion and witchcraft... religicraft! But, I do understand the desperation of trying to selling a home, getting no offers and thinking, “What the hell! We’ve got nothing to lose. Grab yer shovel Dave, we’s gonna bury us a saint today!”

About a month ago I was talking to our soon-to-be new neighbors directly across the street. They were telling stories of Mr. D, and Dave and I were showing them the house design and talking about our plans for the property. Then they told us this story....

So, a few months ago I was upstairs in my house and I saw a car pull up in the front of Mr. D’s house. Two older people got out and ran to the trunk of their car and got out a shovel. They went into the front yard and started digging. I watched them from the window and wondered what the hell they could be doing... I mean it was the middle of the day and I’d never seen these people before and here they were digging in the front yard of a vacant house that was for sale. I figured I should go down there and ask them what they were up to. So, I made my way downstairs and as I was walking out my front door, I see them finish filling in the hole they had dug and now they were taking pictures. What is going on?!?!?! I approached them and asked what’s up? They told me they were friends of the woman in Florida who owns the house, and that they were here on her behalf to bury a St. Joseph statue in the hopes of finally selling the house. With that explanation, they brushed the dirt from the shovel, tossed it back in the trunk of their car and drove away. Funny story, huh?

Ummmmmmm....... was all I could muster as a reply for a few moments. “Uh, when did you say you saw this all go down?” I asked. She replied, “Oh, I don’t know... a few months ago. It was warm... like mid-May or so? Yeah, that sounds right. Mid-May it was.”

Well, mid-May was the same time I was out with the dog, walked by Mr. D’s place and well... this happened!

Last weekend I met a sincerely nice couple with four children who were considering buying the property too. They received the same call we did on Friday, May 21st that an offer was put in on the house. They decided to not put an offer in... but don’t you think it’s awfully strange that three separate couples were highly interested in purchasing a house just days after burying a St. Joseph?

That’s some weird coincidence. Or some weird religicraft... ya know... if you believe in that kind of thing.