Lifestyle

Peace

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In the stillness of an anywhere field, there’s a stream that babbles and weaves and spills. The stream is loud.  There are birds both quiet and noisy, some fiddling about … Read more

Lake Geneva Construction

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During times of relative boom, mistakes are made. Mistakes are made during times of relative bust as well, but those mistakes can be more easily forgiven because of the toxic … Read more

Lake Geneva Real Estate

March

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There’s a thing about March. It is, without any question, the worst month of the year. If you disagree, that’s fine, but I know deep down inside that I’m right. … Read more

Merry Christmas

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I heard a radio commercial this morning. “The Holidays are for making memories with friends and family”.  I believe the commercial was for AT&T, but I wasn’t really paying attention … Read more

Ski Towns

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When you grow up in the Midwest, you are taught certain things. You are taught that the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings or the Detroit Lions … Read more

Winter Rules

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It was fall on Saturday and winter on Sunday. It’s winter today, and it’ll be winter tomorrow. In fact, the odds are stacked heavily in favor of it being winter … Read more

Go Kart Track

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You’ve likely already read the article. Lake Geneva Mansions Are Having A Year.  Crain’s likes to talk about Lake Geneva, but only sometimes. That’s because the Crain family is from … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

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I’ve written it often. So often, in fact, that it probably doesn’t seem like I’ve written it at all. It’s about perspective, this life of ours. It’s about perspective gained … Read more

Small

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When I first drove to the Driftless, I didn’t know what it was, or where it was, or anything else about it. I knew only what I had been told, … Read more

W

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My older brother had, and likely has to this day, the largest Mark Grace baseball card collection ever assembled. I believed the Cubs when they said Jerome Walton was the … Read more

Gloom

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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 did she didn’t see fit to … Read more

Habits

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The magazines are stacked in my den, stacked in my living room, stacked in my office. Some, still, are pushed under the back seats of my cars, those magazines that … Read more

Temptation

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As I understand it, Door County is a place where you go because you want to eat cherries while spending the better part of a full day searching for a … Read more

Steady

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Anxiety is a common affliction in the real estate world. Those not living in this world cannot fathom what might be so difficult about making buckets full of money while … Read more

Car Shopping

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I need a new car. My car is older now, though if you saw it just after a washing and you were standing some slight distance from it you’d be … Read more

October Drive

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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, but mostly just North. The Saab … Read more

Normalcy

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The vacation is over. It wasn’t all week, it was just two days. Maybe three, if you count the last day. There were fish caught and steaks eaten. Devoured, really. … Read more

To Vacation

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I have now, rather unfortunately, decided that I don’t know what it would be like to take a vacation. I don’t understand the concept, not in the least. In the … Read more

Boat Lake Michigan?

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I often wonder what the connection is between the Chicago Tribune and the state of Michigan. Is it simply that the Tribune is a newspaper in Chicago and Michigan is … Read more

Summer

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I remember the days when I would travel to the country to our north and engage my distant relatives-in-law in debate. I argued once against their odd brand of socialism by using … Read more

Sunday Shoppers

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The grocery store on a Friday night is busy. It’s always busy then. The parking lot filled to capacity, the shopping carts all in use. The carts with the wobbly … Read more

Wisconsin flowers

It’s Time

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It’s a bit embarrassing for me to admit this. I didn’t do it on purpose, nor did I expect such an incredible, showy display. I didn’t mean for this to … Read more

Pursuits

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I lived in Geneva National for a while. In a few different places, at a few different times, with a few different goals in mind. I lived in a house, … Read more

Pikewood

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Freshly under contract, here’s a tour of this magnificent property on Geneva’s north shore.   https://youtu.be/BwTVZ6DiTBc

Swimming Pools

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I’m old enough to remember when owning a swimming pool was a bad thing. It was a liability, that pool. If a seller had one, the Realtor would exclaim, what … Read more

Staycation Madness

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In life, much of our time and energy is spent justifying our established positions. If I’m a Democrat, I spend some energy defending my positions, no matter whether or not … Read more

Bits and Pieces

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I’ve decided to change the major theme of my magazine. Instead of Summer Homes For City People being a Lake Geneva lifestyle magazine that features writing from yours truly and … Read more

Boxed and Burlap

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I was in Chicago Wednesday. It was a crisp spring day, the sky and water in a matching shade. The city, when viewed from the approaching interstate, no matter which … Read more

A Walk

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I walk these woods. Those woods. New woods and old woods. Your woods and my woods.  I walk them all. I walk them in the rain. My mood on pause. … Read more

Instant Summer

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As I understand it, when the temperature drops in Florida panic ensues. Someone rushes to the store to buy supplies. Another person hurries out to throw blankets on the orange … Read more

Ski Granite Peak Wausau

Ski

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I’ve been sitting at this desk for 20 minutes and I can’t think about anything to write about. Not a single thing. Part of the problem is that I’m tired. … Read more

Harpoon Willies Williams Bay

Harpoon Willies

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I can’t tell you that I’m a regular at Harpoon Willies. When I walk in, no one winks at me a knowing wink. No one gives me a head nod, … Read more

Collect Things

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At this age, I have developed many bad habits.  I shamefully subscribe to the theory of food discovery that dictates I eat one piece of pizza to find out if … Read more

Ski Grand Geneva Resort Lake Geneva

Ski Lake Geneva

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I bought a weight bench last month.  It’s a simple bench, the sort you’d find in a corner of almost every basement in America. It has some weights, a bench, some … Read more

Geneva Dreaming

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I haven’t shared this yet, but I nearly won that large lottery back in January. The night before the drawing, my wife and I made no small plans. We would … Read more

Sounding Winter

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I can see the cold of this winter through the window in my house. All of the windows face this cold, but one window in the living room is the … Read more

Happy New Year

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Some day, I might stay up late enough to greet the new year in the company of family and friends. Some day, I might celebrate the year that just ended … Read more

Weekend Boredom

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Sadly, I hear the same things over and over again. This is this life. Why can’t you sell my house, why can’t you find me a house, why can’t you … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

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Even when it seems to me that there are lots of cars here, there aren’t really lots of cars. They meander past heading to one direction or from the other, … Read more

Remodeling Lake Geneva

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I blame HGTV for most of the design abnormalities that I see on a day to day basis. On television, under the direction of some handsome psuedo-contractor, purple walls and … Read more

This Time

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The flowers are blooming in that big patch of flowers that looks just like a garden of weeds. Most of the flowers are dead now, having long since given their … Read more

This October

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How I love the summer. The distinct scenery that is uniquely this place, the bright blues and deep greens, the white topped waves falling into our white, wooden piers. The … Read more

October Boating

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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 from the last ice … Read more

Oh September

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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, what a day! or, cold enough … Read more