I know that this blog has a reputation for loverly photography. None of this top-notch photography is mine, but I feel compelled to play along. I frequently carry a camera. I take a picture now and then. My one self-imposed rule: My photos need to have come from the same day of bloggy inspiration.

I generally create my contributions to the St. Paul Real Estate Blog on the fly in the wee hours of Wednesday morning on the same day they appear. No pre-writes for me. Maybe you've noticed (for all the wrong reasons).

I like to think I shimmer with untamed brilliance each and every week, splashing you with visual stimulation, clever phraseology, and pop culture lexicography. Then I remember…

This is supposed to be (at least vaguely) about real estate and St. Paul, Minnesota. And then I become ashamed of my excess. Excess is for people from Minneapolis.

Shimmering brilliance and visual stimulation? This is more like it:

The photo above was taken at Lake Minnetonka. I was just there, purifying myself in its waters. It's not St. Paul, I realize, but it's close enough to be called community. So are a few hundred other lakes. If you can't tell from our license plate, we're kind of proud of our lakes here in Minnesota. Lakefront property is coveted.

I'm down with some Tennessee volunteering, living free (or dying) in New Hampshire, or visiting New Mexico's enchanted lands, but I always seem to return to the beckoning hand of the mysterious Lady of the Lake.

She offers me Excalibur, and I say, "Nay, fair lady, 'tis the journey not the spoils."