Showing posts with label Schnecksville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Schnecksville. Show all posts

Monday, August 1, 2022

A Light In August ...

 “Memory believes before knowing remembers.”

    ~ William Faulkner

    ~ 1867 ~ 1962

  ~ one of my favorite authors, Southern American author and Nobel Prize Laureate

     ~ “Light In August”

     ~ 1932

It’s a sunset to remember as the summer sun radiates a gorgeous light over the rolling hills in late August surrounding the rooftop observation area of Trexler Environmental Center.

The trees in the foreground have reserved seating to witness the splendor that God paints in the sky as the day segues into night.

Located in the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, the center is at one of the preserve’s highest elevations and one of the spots that offer spectacular views at the 1,100 acre preserve.

Solar panels provide a significant portion of the energy needs of the building.

When the late General Harry Clay Trexler (1854-1933) established the preserve in the early 1900s, he did it to save the American bison, elk and white-tailed deer from extinction and assure the species’ survival.

A conservationist along the lines of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, General Trexler understood the importance of nature and preserving wildlife in its natural habitat.

A successful businessman who amassed a fortune in the timber and cement industries and founded the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, General Trexler began purchasing small farms in the low hills of Lehigh County in 1906. By 1913, he had transported eight bison and 20 Virginia white-tailed deer to the preserve. The elk followed soon after.

When General Trexler died in 1933, he bequeathed the property to the residents of Lehigh County. Today, the Trexler Nature Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation and nature watching.

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Where The Water Lilies Bloom ...

 “Water Lilies’ is an extension of my life. Without the water the lilies cannot live, as I am without art.”

            ~ Claude Monet

               ~ 1840 ~ 1926

   ~ One of the most famous Western painters of all time, founder of Impressionist painting, creator of the iconic Water Lilies series & a symbol of French painting

Kissed by the summer sun, the loveliness of the pink water lilies dances in the pond on a beautiful mid-July afternoon at Johnson’s Pond Wildlife Park, Schnecksville, North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.

A blue-tailed dragonfly can be seen alighting on the bloom at left and in the foreground on the pond.

Water lilies, plants in the genus Nymphaea, are aquatic blooms that grow in ponds and water gardens and are abundant on Johnson’s Pond.

  

This wildlife park provides an environment for bird watching, nature study and trails.


 

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Summertime At Geiger's Covered Bridge ...

“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy ...

 ~ “Summertime”

 ~ composed by George Gershwin in 1934

 for the 1935 opera “Porgy & Bess”

~ performed by such jazz greats as

 Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong,

 Sarah Vaughan & Billie Holiday

It’s summertime and the livin’ is easy at Geiger’s Covered Bridge on the warm, lazy and lush July evening – quintessential summer – I captured this HDR scene that beckons you to stop and soak in the splendor of my most favorite of seasons in this picturesque postcard of summer’s beauty.

 

Geiger’s Covered Bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge in North Whitehall Township. It is a 112-foot-long Burr Truss bridge, constructed in 1860. It has vertical plank siding and an entry portal of stepped square planks. It crosses the Jordan Creek and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It can be accessed from The Covered Bridge Trail of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.


 

Monday, April 16, 2018

The Spring Melt ...


“Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.”
                    ~ Charles Dickens
                            ~ 1812-1870
The spring melt is on at Geiger’s Covered Bridge as the late March sun melts the snow off the roof a few days after a snowstorm on the first full day of spring March 21 brought more than a foot of snow to the region.

Geiger’s Covered Bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge in North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. It is a 112-foot-long Burr Truss bridge, constructed in 1860. It has vertical plank siding and an entry portal of stepped square planks. It crosses the Jordan Creek and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It can be accessed from The Covered Bridge Trail of the Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.