When I was in high school, a friend of mine had a girlfriend named April. She had curly hair and tanned skin and braces, I think. She went …
Crypto
We’re happy to announce that We Are Now Accepting Bitcoin For Payment, the sign read. We also accept Ethereum and Dogecoin and ADA and Shibu…
Herbs
Herbs
The gas station in our town is called Herb’s. I should say, it was called Herb’s. It might have been called something else even when I t…
The Cottage
The first time I ever saw the cottage I don’t think I noticed it. I drove by it and kept driving, oblivious to the obsession that would soon…
Something Else
There’s something wrong with you, she said. I know, I said. The Johnson deal is in trouble. Not because it should be, but because it just …
The Rink
In the winter the town would flood the gravel parking lot to give the locals a place to ice skate. Sure the lake was full of ice, but this …
Bridges
I was down at that bridge again. It was dark and it was rainy and that’s why I was there. Young couples put on their prom best and sta…
Whataboutisms
The frothy whip of the real estate market has improved the lives and wellbeing of many, and in that list of many I include my own life and t…
Sand
The vacation now ended was nice enough. The islands were fine. The water was warm. The villa both impressive and comfortable. Everything was…
The New Year
This was quite a year. I toggled between righteous anger over the state of the world and quiet, head down ambivalence. I think that’s …
It’s A Wonderful Life
It’s rather disingenuous for me to relate to George Bailey the way I do. I watch this, the best of the Christmas movies, each December…
Real Estate Shorts
Do you know what the word breathtaking means? It means to have your breath taken. Like if you get murdered, that’s a seriously breatht…
Virgil Abloh
I never met Virgil Abloh. I didn’t own anything from Off-White, the company he founded in Milan almost ten years ago. I’ve never…
Oscar Wilde Lied
Nevermind that Oscar was an odd fellow, we have canonized many of his poems and words and novels and because of this we remember him. In aut…
New Buffalo AirBnB Ban
…A house with the possibility of an income stream will clearly sell for more than one without.
Jessica Lee and her husband, whom she ask
Back To School
I’ve been writing this blog with intent for twelve years. Twelve years ago, back to school meant something different to me. Twelve yea…
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…
Just a Cottage
It was once only a dream. It was once a fantasy. Some day, maybe, but unattainable. Years passed and it become possible. A stretch, but poss…
Off White
Grass is green and the sky is off-white. This is what the children of summer will be tought. Even if we don’t teach them, they’l…
Challenged
In the early days of our town there was this town and some other nearby towns. None of the towns felt particularly connected, owed in large …
RIP
Every person since the beginning of time has ended his or her life with one path or road that they traveled more than any other. There̵…
Limit
I’ve reached it. The limit. My limit. Our limit. The frost on my lawn and my breath stuck in the air, all of it is too much. Our taxe…
Wind
The wind kicked up again. It was calm two days ago, and calm the day before that. But then yesterday it picked up and today it’s stirr…
Summer Dreaming
I’m cursed with a malfunctioning ability to dream. It wasn’t always this way, but it has been for most of my adult life, or at l…
Home
I’ll be home for Christmas, so the song wishes. I’ve been struggling to find some Christmas spirit this year, why it’s be…
Thanksgiving
What a curious thing it is, this year. I sit here at this desk worrying about which customer will buy and which customer will sell, worryin…
Difficult Times Ahead
It seems to me there are two seasons of a man’s life. Some would suggest there are more, but they would be wrong. No one would sugges…
Over
What just happened? Is it still summer? I remember the summer days. I remember seeing them through my car window, and out of this office win…
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…
My Factual Opinion
What a terrible time it is to be a man of conviction. Or a woman, I should add, so no one gets mad at me. There’s nothing that can be …
Youth
What is it about youth that we so envy? Do we envy youth because of our own cherished memory of it? Is it that we can imagine a time in our …
Force
Years ago, I wrote often about the need to carve out time and dedicate that time to the enjoyment of this place. It was the time of our live…
If
This morning, I decided to do the thing I’ve done for nearly all of the past 24 years worth of mornings. I woke up, cleaned up, dresse…
Winter Is Over
The ice boats found their smooth patch of ice on Saturday. It was breezy without being windy, sunny without being warm, and the ice was slip…
Pier Guys
This morning things seem ideal. I woke up, which is a nice start to any day. My house was warm, my children healthy, and when I sat on the …
Sunday
There are days in our life that matter more than the other days. The days that matter do so for various reasons. Some of those days are mom…
Battle Royale
There’s a battle inside each of us. Every day. Each season of our lives, a battle. Sometimes, the battle is easy to understand. Easy t…
Frogs
In the middle of a Wisconsin summer, there are things that happen that you might not know about. I didn’t know about them, when I spen…
Just A Kid
It’s raining again, and this time it’s getting to me. The sun shines, but then it doesn’t. Here, then gone. Like a rising…
Weather Malaise
Well, I have it. The malaise. But this case is so severe it should be capitalized, like Malaise. I should add something more to it. Like T…
Memorial Day Weekend
Well, here we are. On the cusp. Don’t forget, this isn’t it. This is the cusp. This isn’t summer. This is a dress rehearsa…
May Flowers
For all of the moving I’ve done, and all of the land that I’ve called home, I have only owned one prized Oak tree. The trees that typically …
Winters End
It’s over. That’s it. There’s nothing left. We made it. No more winter, not here, anyway. Sure, up north there’s sti…
Major Storm
I’m not sure why you’re spending the time to read this. It’s coming. Can’t you see? It’s not far away now. La…
Cool White
( A rerun from 2017)
The problem with this tradition is that it’s based, at least somewhat, on emotion. On feelings. Which is wh…
In Between
I’m sitting here again. Like Groundhog Day, without the square. Just me and this computer, this desk. This street. A few snow flurries…
Happy Thanksgiving
There’s nothing more to write. It’s just Thanksgiving. We should be thankful. I am thankful. We should also be aware that on ou…
Cold And Frosty
What a mundane life it would be if we missed mornings like these. Mornings like this. The cold morning where you’re not really cold. T…
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…