The Red House Along The Autumn Canal ...

“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.”

                             ~ Henry Beston

                                   ~ 1888-1968

The historic Harry Rickert House reflects in the Lehigh Canal on a beautiful autumn afternoon in early November along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail), Weissport, Pennsylvania, where the trail is positioned between the Lehigh River and Lehigh Canal.

Weissport flourished as a Lehigh Canal town until 1942. Diverse goods, coal and people moved along the waterway. Boatyards and a mercantile center in the Harry Rickert House anchored business activity here.

The house itself was built just after the canal was dug and built in 1828. Jacob K. Rickert came to Weissport in the 1850s, and through his son Hiram and grandson Harry, the Rickert’s business continued to operate until the 1950s. Today the stately building is owned by Rod and Jennifer Mann. The house is their home plus a guest house known as “The Canal Side Guest House.”

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

Summer On The Delaware ...

“Let us cross over the river, and rest in the shade of the trees.”

      ~ Stonewall Jackson

          ~  1824-1863

The last words of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, who served as a Confederate general (1861-1863) during the Civil War, and became arguably the best-known Confederate commander after General Robert E. Lee. Jackson played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the Eastern Theater of the war until his death, and had an important part in winning many significant battles.

A lone fisherman crosses the Delaware River in this high contrast monochrome shot I captured on a late summer afternoon overlooking the river that straddles New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

This view was from the Riverton-Belvidere Toll Supported Bridge, my vantage point

on this sunny early September day.

The bridge, which opened in 1904, links Belvidere, New Jersey and Riverton, Pennsylvania.

Belvidere, one of my very favorite places, was established April 7, 1845 and is a charming Victorian town located on the banks of the Pequest and Delaware Rivers. The town’s name means “beautiful to see” in Italian.

Riverton is part of Pennsylvania’s Slate Belt.

Ain't Nothin' Like A Summer Day ...

“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

           ~ Henry James

                 ~ 1843-1916

Under the cool shade of trees in late August, a hammock I saw on a property along the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania paints a quintessential scene in sepia of a perfect afternoon in summer, my most favorite of seasons.

Ain’t nothin’ like a summer day!