The quality of tap water varies widely around this nation. New Orleans, for example, has long struggled with toxins in their water supply from all the pollution in the Mississippi River, where they get their water. New York City, a heavily populated place, has fabulous tap water - probably due to diligent and expensive efforts to make it pure. Appleton, like New York City, has excellent tap water. I think it's because of an advanced and relatively expensive process used by Appleton to purify the water that is taken in from Lake Winnebago. You can read about the ultrafiltration process and the history of the Appleton Water Works system at FoxValleyMemory.com. With this process, Appleton's water tastes great, but some other nearby communities just aren't as lucky. Water in Menasha and Kaukauna, for example, just tastes different and is not as good.

Water in Appleton is fluoridated. For adults who don't want added fluoride in their bodies, bottled water is an alternative, though I'm not sure it's really needed. But if you do prefer bottled water - something I've been trying lately - there are quite a few good choices in this area. My favorite is Ice Mountain, a Midwest brand of spring water product made by Nestle Waters North America. One thing you have to realize when you buy bottled water is that some products are just tap water that have been filtered, but may still have fluoride and chlorinated compounds. I recommend using spring water.

Not all spring water is equal. The worst bottled water I've ever tasted is spring water packaged by Premium Waters of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and sold by Wal-Mart in 1-gallon plastic jugs, the same cheap plastic jugs used for milk. Though it claims to be spring water, the flavor of the plastic dominates - tastes like a heavy dose of petrochemicals in every drop. Appalling! But it's only about 62 cents per gallon, so it's the cheapest bottled water around. Maybe good for watering plants you don't like all that much, or for emergency storage.

On the other hand, I really like the flavor of Ice Mountain, and am impressed with the company. I called customer service to find out about fluoride levels in the water ("no fluoride"), and was pleased with how kind and responsive the service people were. Even sent me a nice packet of information about the impressive processes they use to ensure the water comes from clean, safe sources and is pure and delicious.

One of my favorite photographers, Franz Lanting, famous for his marvelous photos of wildlife, is coming to Appleton on October 20. He'll do a photography show and lecture at 7 p.m. in the Stansbury Theatre at Lawrence University. Don't miss this!

He's been a photographer on assignment for National Geographic and has published a heart-touching book of animal photography, including many spectacular shots from Africa. He's just brilliant, in my opinion, and very daring in terms of where he'll go and what he'll endure to get a shot.

I took some family members to one of Appleton's two El Azteca restaurants. I've avoided it for quite a while, but I finally went after hearing several endorsements, including praise from a friend of mine from Mexico. Service was excellent and the staff was very friendly and helpful, the place was clean and attractive, and the chips and salsa were excellent, with both red salsa and a good bean dip. But apart from the chips and salsa, the food was average at best. The prices were lower than average, and it seemed that numerous cost cutting steps had been taken to keep the price down. Instead of the standard rice and refried beans, the beans on my plate had been replaced with a handful of pale yellowish lettuce. The mole sauce on my chicken enchiladas was a thin, dry coating instead of the rich layer of sauce that a mole dish should have. (Mole, of course, refers to a wonderful class of sauces originating in Oaxaca, Mexico, often made from ground, roasted seeds and, in the case of black mole, some chocolate.)

My boys like the red sauce on their enchiladas, but the other adults in the group were not impressed with their burritos or chimichanga.

Sorry, El Azteca. Nice place, but I think they'd be better off raising prices a little to afford an extra dash of quality.

The August 2006 issue of Money Magazine recognizes 90 towns as "Americas Best Small Cities." Number 57 is Appleton, Wisconsin, receiving high scores for "ease of living" and jobs/economy. Number 1 was Fort Collins, Colorado, and number 2 was Naperville, Illinois. Fort Collins I can understand, but Naperville??

City Park in the heart of Appleton has a beautiful sculpture in a water fountain, Ring Dance by Dallas Anderson. It features six smiling children in a "ring dance," an old game where children dance with legs linked together. It was dedicated August 2, 1996, and has now become one of Appleton's most well-known landmarks. I took these photos tonight while on a walk with my family.

Pyrotechnics Guild International held a large convention at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, just a few miles outside of Appleton. My family watched from a distance last night, the closing night of their convention. Spectacular fireworks! Ah, to be a pyrotechnics developer - except for the constant risk of explosion.

Photos from the Post-Crescent's coverage of the fireworks display are here.

WG&R Furniture pleasantly surprised me the other day with outstanding customer service. We had purchased some couches from the last year, and one of them developed an open seam in a small part of the microfiber material. They sent a repair man to our home who fixed it on the spot for a cost of only $26. I'm used to being charged $40 or more just to have someone set foot in our home, only to offer an opinion about how much more it will cost to actually fix the problem. But here $26 covered the house call and the labor for the repair. Well done work, prompt, easy to work with, and inexpensive.

WG&R Furniture was already one of my top recommendations for furniture in the area - and their excellent customer service only confirms that opinion. Thanks, WG&R Furniture!

Here's another great choice for local ice cream: Badger Ice Cream on Highway 114 in Menasha (905 Plank Road, a couple blocks north of Jefferson Park). They have 32 flavors of outstanding Breyers and Cedar Crest premium ice cream. A friend and I went there on our way back from a meeting tonight and we were impressed. I had a monstrous "single" scoop made of two half scoops, and my friend had a waffle cone with the same split single scoop. Under $4 for both of us. My flavors were raspberry frozen yogurt and Almond Joy. Very refreshing.

They also serve hot dogs and other snack foods, but the ice cream is the draw here.

So who has the best ice cream in the Valley?

The best ice cream dessert in a restaurant has been the triple ice cream cake I had at Fusion.

For cones, Goosebumps is still my favorite, but Badger Ice Cream is a close second.

Best deal: the 95 cent cones (while the sale lasts) at Vande Walle's in Appleton.

Most creative ice cream dishes: the combinations at Cold Stone Creamery.

Here are a couple photos from a walk at High Cliff State Park on Friday night. The lime kiln ruins are from a once-booming business based on converting High Cliff's abundant limestone to lime for use in cement. The other photos show a sunset scene over Lake Winnebago as viewed from the Lime Kiln Trail. The other photo is from the marina area.

The lime kiln ruins are from the Western Lime and Cement Company, which survived for a century from 1856 to 1956. Three kilns were here, burning wood and later coal to convert limestone to the more reactive lime (calcium oxide).

While Goosebumps remains my top pick for ice cream in the area, another great choice and great value can be found in one of Appleton's classiest shops, Vande Walle's near the Fox River Mall. This famous home of fabulous chocolates and baked goods also has an ice cream bar where, at least for the summer, they are offering ice cream cones at a sale price of 95 cents each ($1 even after tax). That's for a single generous scoop. While trying to decide between two great flavors, the girl working there said that they can do two half scoops. Nice idea! So I had a turtle-strawberry combination. Perfect!

One of Appleton's favorite public pools, the Mead Pool at Mead Park in southeast Appleton, was shut down today when a fourteen-year-old boy was pulled from the water, unconscious and without a pulse. He's being treated in Madison.

While details of the accident are not available, this is a sober reminder of the reality of danger in the water. With pools and nearby lakes and rivers, the Appleton area offers many opportunities for swimming, tubing, and boating, but strict attention to safety is needed. When boating, always have a life jacket on. While swimming, use the buddy system and constantly check to make sure everyone is doing well. And never, ever go near the water when you've been drinking. It seems like every year someone in the area drowns because they got drunk and fell out of a boat or walked into a river.

Enjoy the water - but stay safe.