Why protecting the environment should not be partisan, or political

A little photo essay. Count your blessings, Milwaukee.

Tuesday is one of those crisp, dry winter days which puts a special glow on Lake Michigan - - some related posts, here, here, here and here - -  the City of Milwaukee and Lake Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted more than 100 years when local leaders understood that government could preserve for the public the best that the land and water had provided.

Tuesday was one of those days which also reminded me of the direction UW-Madison environmental historian William Cronon gave us years ago and which I have quoted on this blog from time to time:

This is the perfect time to get to know his work; here is but one instructive book chapter, and, hoping I do not stumble into trivializing his effort, I'll copy out a few sentences that have helped point me to some everyday truths and a useful Earth Day perspective, too:

Idealizing a distant wilderness too often means not idealizing the environment in which we actually live, the landscape that for better or worse we call home...

That is why, when I think of the times I myself have come closest to experiencing what I might call the sacred in nature, I often find myself remembering wild places much closer to home...the wildness in our own backyards, of the nature that is all around us if only we have eyes to see it. 

And that's really the point, isn't it: "if only we have eyes to see it." 

Today I took a closer look with my iPhone and eyes wide open: