“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike,
that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this
century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our
ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those
human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we
are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it
wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty.”
~ from the inspiring
Inaugural Address of
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy
~ 1917-1963
35th
President of the
United States of America
~ 1960-1963
& U.S. Navy
veteran
It was wonderful to photographic a majestic American Bald Eagle for the
first time as it’s perched in the late day sunlight along the Delaware and
Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap, Slatington,
Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day weekend 2017 – and a few days before the
centennial of the birthday of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Perched in the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain,
the eagle was apparently disturbed by a very loud crow nearby – and emitted a
call to let the crow know! I was blessed to spend 15 minutes photographing the
eagle, during which time the crow flew away.
The bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the
United States. The bald eagle appears on our nation’s seal. In the late 20th
century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States.
Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U.S.
government’s list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the
list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife in the lower 48 states on June 28, 2007.
The
Lehigh Gap is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect
two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the D&L Trail.
The
Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh
Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running
from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and
Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.
Background
texture by Jai Johnson added for artistic effect.
