Lighted Spaces and Landscapes
Excerpts from a Geographer's Photo Archive
recent posts
- Another Juan Arctic Mural in Reykjavik
- Prime River Spot for Fonzie
- You Can’t Beat a Bungalow
- Why Use a Cane When You Can Carry It?
- It’s Important to Color Coordinate the Truck with Mural
- What Do You Mean the Ferry Sunk?
- Drugs and Seeds
- A Remarkable Pie
- With Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
- Back to the Halls
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- Time for Art, Time for the Festival
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- No Perk at the Coffee Pot
- Pizza Context
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- First “Real” Place
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- Summer Streetcar Ride
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- Twice as Nice
- Time Flies When You Are Having Fun
Category: Lake Michigan
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The first of over 60 cruise ships expected this summer arrived in Milwaukee Harbor today. Great Lakes cruising is becoming a thing and Milwaukee is one of the prime stops. With a city full of activities visitors will have 5)o trouble finding things to do. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2026)
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When I was a boy, the Detroit Institute of Arts had a fabulous ad singing that “you’ve got to have art.” I recommend checking the video and the recent remake. I often hum the tune when passing by my hometown art museum. The museum itself is a signature art piece by Santiago Calatrava. I’ve traveled…
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There is a supper club that overlooks the Lake that is one of my favorite places to dine. It feels like I’ve stepped back into the 1960s (minus the cloud of cigarette smoke). This sign is at the end of their parking lot. It makes me think that that there must have been a problem…
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I tell this story often. I was doing a consult in Grand Rapids and they offered to fly me over from Milwaukee. I suggested the ferry–same price and I get to use my car. This surprised them and at each meeting for 2 days, I was introduced as: “this is Julio Rivera from Milwaukee, and…
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Took a walk today on the beach along Lake Michigan. The ice dunes mark the water line. They are unsafe to go on, but beautiful to look at. (Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, 2026)
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Walking along Harbor Park is usually lovely. This cold day in January there was no wind, lots of sun, and great views up the Lakeshore. Didn’t know it would be my last winter living along the Lake. (Kenosha, Wisconsin 2014)
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The Calatrava-designed Milwaukee Art Museum is spectacular when illuminated at night. I was a bit surprised to see it look so lit that night. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2025)
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I was having lunch with a friend the other day and she was talking about going up in the lighthouse for the solstice. As I was listening to her I realized I lived across the harbor from the lighthouse and I had never climbed up it–but I have a number of photos, (Kenosha, Wisconsin, 2012)
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Kathleen took this one, but it is excellent. We had just had a quick snowfall with very cold temperatures. Lake Michigan steamed like the Gordon Lightfoot song said. (Kenosha, Wisconsin 2013)
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We were flying to New York on an cold day. The ice on Lake Michigan was thick and the steam from the power plant was hanging in the sky below us. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin 2019)