The demise of the Milwaukee Walking and Eating Society happened gradually. For 25 years I organized walk and eat groups as we explored neighborhoods on foot and ate at hundreds of small restaurants. But times changed, people aged, busyness intervened, and slowly, inexorably, the membership declined to a point where it no longer made sense to plan those weekly adventures. I started this in 1992 to meet like-minded people and to satisfy my passion for walking, or more accurately strolling milwaukee's neighborhoods. I like to poke in little shops and taste new dishes at unfamiliar restaurants. As I wined and dined, I made many new friends, the byproduct I hoped for back when it all began.
We were stoic; we walked in rain and snow; navigated ice in January; ate on patios and decks when we should have been inside just because.... In 25 years I cancelled one walk because of weather and that was years ago when the wind chill threatened minus 70.
Nostalgia gets me nowhere, it's over. But there's hope. A friend, JanGrosenick and I hope to keep a remnant of the original alive with "Venturing Out." We have three activities coming in June: a walk at Lion's Den in Grafton and lunch at a brewery, a walk in Bay View and lunch at Vanguard, a walk in Grant Park followed by music, beer, and food at the traveling beer garden
We would love to have new friends join us. For more information please contact me on my website Lifeontheloose.com

For 20 years my family had a cottage on Good Harbor Bay in northern Michigan. I will be forever grateful to former senator Phillip Hart who fought to turn a parcel of land along Lake Michigan into a national lakeshore. WhenSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore became reality, my parents sold our cottage and the land to the government. The Park Service then removed every trace of our cottage to let the land return to a natural state. After 40 years, it is as it should be, wild and natural.
Mom had planted wild flowers, trillium, bell wort, columbine, spring beauty, and more. Last year, with the intent of keeping everything pure and indigenous, the Invasive Plant Removal crew dug up all the flowers Mom had lovingly nurtured. On Mother's Day I performed my small act of subversion. Where trillium and bell wort grew, I planted two, just two non-indigenous daisies. Mom loved daisies. I'm sure she would approve.
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