Junk by the Yard

I am always surprised that I can find things in Chicago that are new to me. Having been a cab driver here, a pizza delivery man, a shoe supply delivery man, and computer tech who had to drive all over the city and suburbs, I like to think I know it all. I don't.

Saturday Mark suggested we go to the third annual Edgewater yard sale. The Edgewater neighborhood was having a community yard sale. The only problem I could see was that it was not centrally located, you had to walk for blocks from house to house. It was a beautiful day though, so I said yes. We did not walk from block to block, nor from house to house. I drove. Slowly, up and down each street looking over what was displayed in each front yard. Mark would scan out the right side window, and I would scan out the left side of the car. Meanwhile, traffic would back up behind us prompting an occasional horn honk. That's the nice thing about growing older. You don't give a fuck about those behind you. Anyway, if something of interest was spotted I would pull over next to a fire hydrant or at the corner (Not much legal parking in that neighborhood). There were a lot of things I would have bought, if not for the fact that Mark has already cluttered the house with too many things. But Mark did find three old folding chairs, circa 1940 and a nice rake for the yard. I found a cook book for Mark that he doesn't already have, and that was about it. So we didn't really find a lot of interesting things. What I did find is that Edgewater, between Broadway and Clark Street, is really charming. I know that I have blown through that neighborhood when I drove a taxi, and when cutting through to avoid traffic, but I have never actually paid attention to the houses. I never got out and walked around there before. It really is nice. Nice people, nice big homes, nice tree lined streets. Mark and I were getting neighborhood envy. Maybe if I had walked around there before, when we were looking for a house, I would have bought a place over there. Or not. I checked Realtor.com, we couldn't afford it.