Well, that’s that. Summer is dead and gone. My dreams of enjoying it are left mostly unfulfilled, and I know it’s my own fault. …
Seasonal Dysphoria
I really dislike the way I think. If it’s hot I like that, but I like cool better. When it’s cool I wish for it to be hot. If it…
Lake Geneva Fall Colors
Yesterday, it was August. Earlier today, it was Labor Day. Tonight, it’ll be October, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Sure I…
Inventory Issues
I suppose there’s something sweet about a summer buyer. Something innocent. On any sunny day it would be natural and normal for a subu…
Endless Summer
The license plate said that. ENDLESS SUMMER. If you capitalize it, then it seems like some sort of horror film. It screams at you and demand…
Market Top
There you have it, someone said it. Someone in the real estate industry dared say it. More than likely, this will be it for me. This will b…
Decisions
On a day last week, in the afternoon of that day, there was a choice to be made. The sky opened after a period of rain and a period of warmt…
Wish
I used to wish for things. Lots of things. In the third grade, I wished that a girl I liked wouldn’t move away. She did. Later, I wish…
Discernment
A few weeks ago, I wrote an offer on a property on behalf of a buyer. This is no feat. There is no trick to this. It’s just a form wri…
One Last Summer
Somewhere, sometime, there was a decision made. It was a decision based on indecision, really. This would be it. A lifetime here, in this pl…
Gone
This week wasn’t like the other weeks. It wasn’t like the one before it, or the two before that one. It’s been a week unli…
The Hunt
I kill animals every year. Or at least one animal every year. It’s a right of passage, a tradition, something I do, annually. I’…
Off Season
It was January. Maybe February. The snow had piled up and the lake had frozen. It was winter, but not like last winter, it was real winter. …
The Fall Of It All
I already know the sort of fall you like. I know the sort of fall everyone likes. It’s the fall we had last Saturday. Sunshine, 70 deg…
Fall Rules
I have several different sets of rules pertaining to several different disciplines. My real estate rules are well known. Don’t buy a h…
The Why
It was windy. It hadn’t rained yet, but the clouds had overtaken the moon and everyone knew the rain was near. It wasn’t warm an…
Summer’s End
The streets are quiet now. The excited conversations of summer are now just a murmur, fading like the green in all of these leaves. There wa…
Gloom
Both of my grandmothers are now dead. They’ve both been dead for a while. My Grandma May didn’t complain about much, or if she d…
Steady
Anxiety is a common affliction in the real estate world. Those not living in this world cannot fathom what might be so difficult about makin…
October Drive
The Saab 900 was gunmetal gray. The roads were straight, the path clear. North. That’s all I needed to do, bearing East when possible,…
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I think we know each other well enough that we can cut through all the nuance. It’s time we had an honest discussion about me, about y…
Lake Geneva Market Update
It’s getting late. The greens are no longer bright. The grass is beginning to fade. The corn is drying as it should, first at the bott…
Lake House Shopping List
I’ve seen things no one should ever have to see. I live like you, just wishing to make it through my day without conflict and strife, …
November Again
We all engage in it. A very common mistake. It’s not a mistake like it would be to pay someone to tattoo barbed wire around our biceps…
This October
How I love the summer. The distinct scenery that is uniquely this place, the bright blues and deep greens, the white topped waves falling in…
The American Club
I do not believe in putting off until tomorrow what you can do today. Unless tomorrow is pretty open, and today is pretty busy. Then I whole…
Jackets and Coats
I own many coats. I don’t tell you this by way of bragging. I’m not especially proud that I own so many coats, it’s just t…
October Boating
Yesterday while you were working, the lake did what it does in October. It went quiet. Sure, the lake goes quiet during the days that came f…
Oh September
Without the weather, what would we talk about? When I meet someone new, what would I open the conversation with? If I couldn’t say, wh…