The Lake Effect

You will enjoy reading this book whether you are curious about lakes or have already feasted on lake living. If you want to know more about how spending time around lakes provides an escape from the hustle and bustle and busyness of life, or a enchanting destination during a slow or ho-hum season of your life, read on!

Our planet is brimming with inland lakes that dot the landscape everywhere. There are an estimated 117 million of them spread throughout the seven continents — from pond-size to gigantic. For example, Alaska has about three million unnamed lakes, many considered too small to name, while the beautiful and mammoth Lake Baikal in Russia contains over one-fifth of the earth's fresh water supply!

With the exception of Maryland, all 50 states are populated with at least one natural lake, with Alaska touting the most with over 3,000 officially named and three million unnamed natural lakes. Minnesota (with a license plate that claims “10,000 lakes”) has the second highest total with about 15,291 natural lakes, most of them named, and Wisconsin has the third-highest number of lakes with 15,074, many of which are not. Michigan also has an abundance of lakes, totaling around 11,000.

There are so many beautiful lakes in the Midwest and beyond! But whether your favorite is Higgins Lake in Michigan, Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, Lake Ontario or one of the other five Great Lakes, the famed Lake Tahoe straddling Nevada and California, Lake Winnisquam in New Hampshire, the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, or Lake Mead in Arizona/Nevada, lakes carry a beauty and charm that engenders positive feelings and memories.

For the millions of lake enthusiasts out there as well as future lake enthusiasts, I hope you will relish this book. While the primary focus will be the beautiful Lake Geneva, nestled in the rolling hills and fertile farmland of southeastern Wisconsin, The Lake Effect is about the beauty and allure of lake living and all it has to offer. I will take you through the rich history of Lake Geneva and the treasure trove of beautiful memories it holds for me and my family who lived there for 26 years, and my hope is that it will trigger some beautiful memories of your own lake experience as well as some which may well be on your horizon.

Robert M. Gullberg