Family Ride

When we bought our house several years ago, a selling point for us was its proximity to the Oak Leaf Trail. We love to get our bicycles out on the trail whenever we can. This section is one of our favorites. 

Milwaukee with a view. Magnifique - n'est-ce pas?!

Crazy Trillium

There's a saying about poison ivy that goes "Leaves of three, beware of me." It's only partially useful though because a lot of plants in the wildwoods have leaf trios, like trillium and shamrocks. Who doesn't love shamrocks?!  Poison ivy is more like "Leaves of two opposite with one extra hanging on the end, uh, stay away". Not as catchy.

We are blessed to live close to a major wooded park system along the Lake Michigan lakefront, and the trails are plentiful. A ten minute walk can take us to the beach, or up along narrow cliff trails where we can see the lake through tree-tops 80 feet up. I think "wow - this is just like being up-north and walking along the big lakes" and then I remember I am walking along a big lake. Instant transport away from urbanity.

We spotted crazy dense patches of trillium out hiking the other day - shades of white to deep pink - beautiful!!

Trillium 

These are growing mixed with a rue of some sort; see the tiny ferny leaves? The rue will bloom soon, after the trillium are done. We are in the process of naturalizing the woodland garden in our backyard, and hope it looks like this some day.

News and Views (i.e. TCD and Sculpture)

It's always exciting to learn new things about your hometown. Well, at least as long as those things classify as neato-keen. Today was gracious enough to provide two to check out.


The Third Coast Digest

Bannerhead courtesy of ThirdCoast Digest.

geekMan and I really enjoy exploring Milwaukee, so it's always nice to know we are not the only people relishing what this coastal cosmetropolis has to offer. The TCD is new to me and on first glance it seems promising as an alternative news-voice. I've plugged it into my reader, so only time will tell.


The Lynden Sculpture Garden

Bannerhead courtesy of Lyndon Sculpture Garden.

Previously called the Bradley Sculpture Garden, this collection was recently renamed and opened for public viewing. I never knew it was there before, so this is all totally new to me. I've heard of Mrs. Bradley in terms of her art collections and her generous donations to the Milwaukee Art Museum. I don't know the full history of these sculptures, but from what I can gather reading Eddee Daniel's blog Arts without Borders, the garden used to be opened only once a year to the public. Now it's open two days a week all year long. I'm keen to see this collection and how different pieces look now and after the snow falls. And in Spring. You get the idea.

Tall ships in Milwaukee harbor

Yesterday driving home past the lake, I was excited to see several tall ships in the Discovery World harbor. Usually the only one you see is the S/V Denis Sullivan, a modern sailing vessel that's "the world’s only re-creation of a 19th century three-masted Great Lakes schooner." 

S/V Denis Sullivan; photo credit www.cleveland.com

The ships are still in port this morning (along with a ginormous cargo ship), and the harbor was wrapped in fog to great effect. I really wished I had my camera with me and the time to use it... fortunately, Tom Lynn one of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel photags captured the moment for everyone to enjoy. 

S/V Denis Sullivan in harbor; photo by Tom Lynn, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Not a bad way to start the day.

Flooding in Milwaukee

We've been hard hit with flooding here. Our own neighborhood has been safe, but sections of South Milwaukee are still under water, and the city is under a state of emergency (as is most of Milwaukee county). I drove home from work yesterday along the lakefront just before the storm hit, watching the clouds roll out over the lake. It looked impressive and dangerous, so of course, we had to go take some pictures.

 This view is North toward Milwaukee along the coast. We live a very short walking distance from Grant Park, so we took our cameras and ourselves down the Seven Bridges trail to the lakefront. We took these photos at about 5:30pm when the worst of the rain was just getting started.

 This view is looking east out over the lake. I love the color contrasts, how the dark sky makes the whitecaps really stand out, and the lake turns a sea glass-green color.  We watched the clouds roll out, and then the lake pushed them back; at one point clouds were moving in lines in opposite directions. Little did we know that the storm would bring tornadoes, up to 12in of rain, stop traffic on the interstate for almost 10hrs, close the airport (as of 2pm Friday - still closed), and produce car and house-eating sinkholes. Check the Journal-Sentinel for details.

South Shore Farmer's Market in Bay View

It seems counter-intuitive that we would haunt farmer's markets with our overflowing crisper bins, but there's more than buying veg at a market. A good market offers more than just produce, or maybe the term produce covers a wider range of goodies. There's often food & beverages for eating on the spot, fresh flowers, bedding plants and herbs. Sometimes meat or fish mongers as well. We love the atmosphere of a good market too, relaxed with a sense of discovery of what looks good this week. This Saturday morning, we rode our bicycles up to the South Shore Farmer's Market at South Shore Park in Bay View - it was a perfect Summer morning, and there was a good crowd out to enjoy the park and the weather and the market.

Live music entertained the whole family.

We picked up some red currants (aiming to be in a tart), cranberry granola cookies from Wild Flour Bakery, and some fresh criminis from our favorite mushroom farm: River Valley Ranch (I've always loved the thought of a mushroom "ranch" and all that 'shroom wrangling).

Fresh eggs and local chicken!

We had some of the most amazing tamales. Next time we have to try the crepes (made fresh to order) and some coffee, or maybe a smoothie. Honey and maple syrup vendors were there, and lots of cheese. It's a real motivator to get up and out on the bikes first thing on a Saturday morning. Views like this from the bike trail help too.

Gathering Waters Festival

Milwaukee is the "City of Festivals" with good reason. There are over a dozen ethnic festivals alone each year, including the largest Irish festival in the US (if not the world). One of the newer events is occurring this weekend:  the Gathering Waters Festival at Lakefront Park. We plan to check it out - I want to learn about rain barrels and pick up my state DNR auto pass for this year. It also affords a reasonable view of the Milwaukee Air Show, which is a huge deal. Held at Bradford Beach and Veterans Park on the lakefront, it draws upwards of 100,000 people each year. Also at the lakefront is Pridefest, one of the many festivals held each year at the Maier Festival Park (fondly known as Summerfest grounds). The lakefront will be busy this weekend!

Gathering Waters logo by Catral Doyle creative co. www.cdcreative.com