It was quite a three weeks in California. I enjoyed it. Saw a lot of new territory. Lots of good visits.

One common denominator: Every conversation at some point wandered onto the topic of high real estate prices. The high prices are good for some people, bad for others, but disorienting for all, I sense. There are outcries for government intervention in what is called the "housing crisis." However, I can't imagine any government interference which would be anything but a confusing nightmare of regulation.

The fact is, there are so many people wanting to move to California that prices are climbing in response. It is a classic supply and demand market. Why interfere? People's property taxes are frozen at the level they were when they purchased their house, so nobody is being forced out of a house they have owned for years. If you stay put, the prices of houses around you won't affect you at all.

We are insulated from the effects of increased population in northern Minnesota. Our population peaked in 1915 and has been declining since, at least in Norman County. However, most of the country lives under the pressure created by population increase.