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.

Silhouetted ...

 “Never waste a shadow in creating art.”

         ~ attributed to John Constable

                 ~ English painter

                   ~ 1776 ~ 1837

 General Harry C. Trexler looks majestic and stately on horseback, silhouetted on a late October day when the autumn sun and clouds gave play to light and shadows around this beautiful bronze statue of his image at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 

The statue depicts General Trexler on his horse, Jack ‘O Diamonds.

 

A silhouetted bird, likely a Canada Goose or gull, flies at bottom right in a V formation, visualizing a sense of freedom. 

 

General Trexler (1854-1933) is the father of Allentown’s park system. He was an industrialist, agriculturist, philanthropist, conservationist and soldier. The park is his namesake.

 

During his lifetime, General Trexler contributed a great deal to the growth and quality of life in the City of Allentown and the surrounding County of Lehigh. 

 

This bronze statue of General Trexler was presented to the City of Allentown by his trustees Nolan P. Benner, William B. Butz, Joseph S. Young, Carl J.W. Hessinger and Richard E. White. It was commissioned January 16, 1979 and dedicated May 8, 1982.

 

General Trexler was a great man, and I’m personally very thankful to him, as Trexler Memorial Park and Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania are two of my very favorite places to be and to photograph.

To See A Mockingbird ...

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy …”

      ~ “To Kill a Mockingbird”

        ~ Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Harper Lee

              ~ 1960

A Northern Mockingbird ~ the first I’ve ever photographed ~ keeps an eye on spring perched in the grass enjoying a late March afternoon at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

According to All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Northern Mockingbirds continue to add new sounds to their repertoires throughout their lives. A male may learn around 200 songs throughout its life.

 

Snow Cardinal ...

“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.”

    ~ Rabindranath Tagore

     ~ 1861 ~ 1941

 

A beautiful male North American Cardinal brings a pop of red to an early March snowfall on a beautiful late winter afternoon at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 

January ...

 “January is here, with eyes that keenly glow,

A frost-mailed warrior striding a steady steed of snow.”

     ~ Edgar Fawcett

            ~ American novelist & poet

                  ~ 1847 ~ 1904

A tranquil snowscape paints a January afternoon at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 I captured this scene a day after a fresh snowfall and that reflects the canvas of winter’s quiet beauty.