Summer’s are hot and working in the garden is miserable in the heat. The cool of the evening does not last long enough before it is too dark, so I have been eying up a lantern to light up the work after dark. Gardening can be done quietly, unlike working with the log splitter, so it is reasonable to want to do it after dark, when it is late. Just take a nap in the day, when it is too hot, and work like mad into the night. I wanted a Coleman lantern, but did not want yet to lay the money out for one.
Yesterday we went into Logan to see the antique stores, and on one of the shelves I spotted a new looking Coleman! And it was less than $20! We had the cash, so we got it, and I have brought it home, looked up the direcions and some how to repair videos that really showed me what’s inside and how to get things working, and between them, I figured out how to work it, and what appeared to be wrong with this one. The man at the shop said it would probably need a new leather in the pump, but by the time I got this thing apart and looked over, and the “fix” done, I realized that even though it was a 1973 lantern, it was in new condition. It looks like it may have been light once or twice, only. It needed new mantles, and I have them coming, but it is doing exactly what it is supposed to be other than being light.
So, I am excited to have this one bought and out of the way! I am also excited to have picked it up, then found others, looking much worse in another shop, for more than twice the price.
I wished I looked as good when I was 48 years old! But then again, I don’t think this lantern has gotten as much use.