Starry, Starry Sweet Gum ...

 “How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.”

                ~ John Burroughs

                    ~ 1837 ~ 1921

The leaves of a sweet gum tree are the star of show, tinting the landscape with hues of autumn on a late October afternoon at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The most distinctive feature of the leaves is the star shape, typically with five pointed lobes. In summer they are a glossy dark green, and in the fall they turn striking shades of red, orange, yellow and purple, often with multiple colors appearing on the same branch or tree.

The Sweet Gum is highly prized for its beautiful autumn foliage. It is one of the most common hardwoods in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States.

Rural Red October ...

 “In October a maple-tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days its presence helps to dispel the gloom.”

             ~ John Burroughs

              ~ 1837 ~ 1921

A gorgeous red maple tree lights up the autumn landscape behind a barn of a complementary red hue on an October afternoon along the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) in Laurys Station, North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.

 

I captured this shot near the Cove Road Trailhead, which is near a Lehigh River Water Trail access point at Treichler’s Bridge. The trail is part of the Asher F. Boyer Eagle Trail section of the D&L.

 

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

The Fire & The Frost ...

“It is the life of the crystal,

the architect of the flake,

the fire of the frost,

the soul of the sunbeam,

This crisp winter air is full of it.”

   ~ John Burroughs

   ~ 1837-1921

   ~ “Winter Sunshine”

    ~ 1875

The fire of the frost and the soul of the sunbeam kiss at sunset, painting a fiery frozen beauty at one of the highest elevations at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

This is my abstract view of a snowy scene I shot soon after the historic January Blizzard of 2016.
In a winter shorn of snow until the blizzard, the storm plonked 31 inches of snow on nearby
Allentown in a 24 hour period.

 

The Fire Meets The Frost ...

“It is the life of the crystal,

the architect of the flake,

the fire of the frost,

the soul of the sunbeam,

This crisp winter air is full of it.”

     ~ John Burroughs

      ~ 1837-1921

     ~ “Winter Sunshine”

        ~ 1875

The fire of the frost and the soul of the sunbeam kiss at sunset as sun flares glide toward the snow, painting a fiery frozen beauty at one of the highest elevations at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

This is my abstract view of a snowy scene I shot soon after the historic January Blizzard of 2016.
In a winter shorn of snow until the blizzard, the storm plonked 31 inches of snow on nearby
Allentown in a 24 hour period.

 

Frosted Fire ...

“It is the life of the crystal,

the architect of the flake,

the soul of the sunbeam,

This crisp winter air is full of it.”

       ~ John Burroughs

         ~ 1837-1921

         ~ “Winter Sunshine”

            ~ 1875

The pink hues of a winter’s cotton candy sunset dance among the ice floes in the Jordan Creek on an early February day at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.