Guest post by Chuck Gullett: My summer vacation

The intrepid Chuck Gullett and his trusted steed. Er, scooter.

Hey y’all, I ran into old pal and real estate agent extraordinaire Chuck Gullett a few days ago. Chuck’s guest posted here before, and when he told me this story I encouraged him to share it with our blog readers. So I get the day off and you get Chuck’s heartwarming work of staggering genius. See you next week.

Summertime barbecues are my favorite! I love getting together with family and friends, enjoying great food and reconnecting. When my aunt invited me to her backyard BBQ in Arlington Heights, I couldn’t wait.

The only problem… it’s in Arlington Heights… on a Friday afternoon. Sitting on the Kennedy for 2 hours in Friday rush hour traffic isn’t really my idea of fun. But, problem solved. Zipping by the gridlocked drivers on my new electric scooter while heading to the train station is definitely the way to go. The train ride to Arlington Heights was great! For six bucks, you get a smooth air-conditioned ride with office dwellers starting their hard earned weekends by cracking open a beer on their trek back to the burbs. I folded up my scooter and tucked it as far under the seat as I could so the conductor wouldn’t ask about it.

Glancing out the window in-between rounds of Words with Friends on my phone made for a very quick trip. Upon arrival, the station in downtown Arlington Heights is outdoors and adjacent to the downtown area. I just unfolded my scooter, figured out which direction to go and zipped off. Wow! With these smooth suburban roads, the scooter will hit 16mph! It is only supposed to go 15.5 mph, so I feel very proud of this bonus one half mph.

It is a really pleasant experience cruising down treelined streets flanked by perfectly manicured lawns and cute houses versus dodging cabs, Ubers and busses in video game fashion when riding in Chicago. Helmet on, I made it to my aunt’s house just fine. She popped out to welcome me and check out my new toy. These scooters are pretty new and kind of a novelty right now (although, I’m convinced that scooters are the wave of the future and will forever change the face of transportation. Plus people stare at you when you are riding it, and I kind of like that). Anyway, my uncle took it for a spin down the block as did my cousin. Riding the scooter makes you feel like a kid, so they both had big grins when they came back.

My aunt’s back yard is as serene as it gets. A cute patio of alternating pavers locked tightly together topped with a group dining table under the cool cover of an umbrella swaying with the breeze. There are two wicker chairs with bright red cushions in the corner under a tree and a rustic bar cart complete with Irish whiskies, a bright green Tanqueray bottle and assorted glass wear. A lattice archway leads into the backyard with a lawn of neatly crisscrossed mower tracks and surrounded by greenery and blooming flowers. Apparently retirement affords you time to hone some impressive gardening skills.

My uncle took me over to a spot in the garden to show me the lamb’s ear plants that were transplanted from my neglected garden in Peoria over a dozen years ago. Then he pointed to a neighbor’s yard that also used some of the same plantings. Those lamb’s ears are thriving. With some loving care, they took on a whole new life after moving up north. Sounds oddly familiar.

The evening was really great. I got to sit down with my cousin, Fr. Chuck. He is a retired 80-year old Catholic priest sporting a flat brimmed White Sox hat, sipping on an Irish Whiskey and relaxing in one of the red cushioned chairs. Since he is surrounded by Cubs fans at this party, the big question came up… how did you ever become a Sox fan? It was a 1948 game that his father took him to at Comiskey Park. They drove all the way from Rantoul to see that game. He quickly rattled off Sox stats and highlights from the years since. A true lifetime fan.

He scoffs at my Cubs affiliation, although he did once admit to me that Wrigley is a pretty good outdoor bar. Great conversations, reconnecting, catching up with the cousins, their significant others, new careers, a new baby, a baby on the way, the president, the mayor, taxes, food, dessert, and then its time to rush back to the train station. Great nights go too quickly. I did some quick hugs and hopped on the scooter to retrace my path back to the train station. I got to the platform with 4 minutes to spare.

As I’m folding the scooter to prep for the train, I see a flat brimmed Sox hat at the far end of the platform. I heard “Chuuuck??” Sure enough, Fr. Chuck was driving by the train station and wanted to make sure I got home  OK. Twenty minutes passed as we chatted. No train yet. Someone else on the platform checked the schedule and the next two trains were canceled. Last train is 12:44 a.m. Ugh. A brief thought of riding the scooter back to the city went through my head. A quick calculation, 10 miles of battery left, that could get me to the Blue Line at O’Hare. Or I could just take a cab. That’s a better plan. Then Fr. Chuck blurted out, “I’m driving you back, let’s go.”

So, I stowed the scooter in his trunk and proceeded to clear off the passenger seat, which was covered with CDs. I heard him say, “Oh geez” when he got in the driver side. There was an empty shopping bag on his seat. Apparently, someone broke into the car and went through his stuff. Being a very trusting soul, he had left his window down and door unlocked at the train station. Somebody got in and went through the bag looking for something valuable and dumping out the contents on the passenger seat. We got a big laugh when the contents of the bag were all still in the car. How disappointed were these casual thieves when all they found was a 24 CD set about the Resurrection. I had to laugh out loud. Sorry suckers!

The ride back was traffic free and relaxing with Brahms playing on the radio. I appreciated the rescue and I’ll definitely have to pay it forward to the next Sox fan I run into.