On a gloomy, December day, when “the sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine,” it’s tempting to stay curled up somewhere warm, inside, by a fire. Or to busy myself with the million things I have to do before the holidays. It’s easy to find excuses not to take a walk in the woods when it’s cold, wet, and dreary.
 
But those are often the days when I need it most, when the ordinary world is wearisome and business becomes busyness. I bundle up and go.
 

In order to get to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore from my home in Milwaukee, I have to go through all of Chicago, with its sprawling suburbs and its densely packed downtown, spiked with skyscrapers, and then across the skyway. The view from the skyway is of a vast apocalyptic landscape seething with active refineries, steel mills, and inactive, abandoned industrial sites. Past the last steel mill I begin to see woodlands and wetlands instead of enormous factory sheds, steel armatures, and tall smokestacks. It is worth the effort.

I've been to the dunes many times, but always to lie on the beach in warm weather. Last weekend could have been more of the same, but it was freezing! So, instead of sticking to the beach I explored one of the inland trails where it was out of the wind and much warmer. And what a lovely discovery! The Cowles Bog trail led me through some swamplands, over oak covered hills, and past glacial kettle ponds.

We're so glad to introduce you to our next new blogger, Eddee Daniel, who teaches art and blogs on art and urban wilderness in Milwaukee.  Welcome, Eddee!  Readers, look for Eddee's first post later today.

Tell us about one of the primary ways you spend your time (work, volunteering, fun--pick whatever is relevant to GLUE).  I like to explore and to photograph what I discover. I blog about my experiences and share my photographs on two blogs, Arts Without Borders and Urban Wilderness. I'm an advocate for the environment and volunteer for several local non-profits. I also like to travel.

Just keeping tabs on the occasional instance where people outside the GL region say nice things about us!

There's this Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel piece on what Milwaukee can learn from Pittsburgh (which I am counting because it was written outside of Pittsburgh)--

and this download of a Preservation article on Detroit, entitled "Block by Block."

Finally, while this isn't technically a n

Every week, GLUE brings you a profile of an active GLUEster. This week, meet Melissa Kovach, of Milwaukee, WI. Title, organization: Researcher, Public Policy Forum. Describe one of your favorite places or things to do in your city: It is wonderful that I can walk to the shore of Lake Michigan from my apartment. An increasing number of cool activities are going on at the lakefront, and I love how it connects an urban setting with nature. What are the short and long-term goals of your work? The Public Policy Forum is a nonpartisan think tank that has been serving Milwaukee for 96 years...

Every Wednesday, GLUE will bring you information and interviews on that month's issue focus.

Weekly photo contest winners get to choose a local business or organization to be featured with a short write-up on GLUEspace. Dave Reid, last week's "Things Municipal" photo contest winner, chose to highlight Milwaukee's own Bucketworks. Bucketworks is a collaborative working environment, meeting space, creativity and business incubator, and, as described on their website, "The world's first health club for the brain." Like many innovative organizations we find in these cities, Bucketworks escapes a clear in-the-box type of description. Its members can use the space for a variety of purposes, including holding meetings or starting a theater company...

Congratulations to Dave Reid, who shared this great shot of the Milwaukee City Hall. When GLUE first visited Milwaukee in the spring of 2008, this building was covered in scaffolding, which has been removed to reveal beautiful restoration work. When this City Hall was built in 1895, its bell tower was the third tallest structure in the country. Designed in the German (in Milwaukee, what else?!) Renaissance Revival tradition by Henry Koch, the City Hall has seen Socialist victories, Laverne and Shirley shenanigans, a fire in the bell tower, and multiple renovations...

An incredible tour of Milwaukee, given by Milwaukeeans, is featured over at Next American City as the most recent stop in their 24:Hrs series. The write-up by Dave Steele gives Milwaukee its due, showcasing a diversity of experiences: ethnic cultures, environmental remediation, industrial past and present, and sunrise over a beautiful city...

Jennifer Epps, 26, is an organizer with Milwaukee's Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, which successfully negotiated a Community Benefits Agreement for Milwaukee's Park East area, a section of the city's core just north of downtown.