Good Morning Dixie ...

“Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton

Old times they are not forgotten

Look away, look away, look away Dixieland

Oh I wish I was in Dixie, away, away

In Dixieland I take my stand to live and die in Dixie

For Dixieland, that’s where I was born

Early Lord one frosty morn

Look away, look away, look away Dixieland

Glory, glory hallelujah

Glory, glory hallelujah

Glory, glory hallelujah

His truth is marching on …”

                 ~ “An American Trilogy”

             ~ songwriters Don Reedman, Nick Patrick and Robin Smith

          ~ recorded by the great Elvis Presley
                                           ~ 1972

The peace of a beautiful southern fall morning floats along with the Colleton River in the Lowcountry of Beaufort County, South Carolina on a late October day in Dixie.

Walking In Bluebells ...

“The bluebell is the sweetest flower

That waves in summer air

Its blossoms have the mightiest power

To soothe my spirits care.”

               ~ “The Bluebell”

                      ~ Emily Bronte

                            ~ 1818-1848

                           ~ published 1846

This little girl walks among the beguiling bluebells blooming in early April near the banks of the Swabia Creek at Lock Ridge Park and Furnace Museum, Alburtis, Pennsylvania in this candid capture.

The blooming of the multitude of Lock Ridge bluebells – also called grape hyacinth – is a clarion call of spring in the Lehigh Valley, drawing many people to photograph and glimpse their beauty in the span of the few weeks they bloom.

Lock Ridge Park is a park built around an historic iron ore blast furnace just outside Alburtis, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley. The park preserves portions of the former Lock Ridge Iron Works, which dates back to 1868.  The 59-acre park was opened in August 1976.

Snow Day ...

“Silently, like thoughts that come and go,

The snowflakes fall, each one a gem.”

                     ~ William Hamilton Gibson

                                      ~ 1850-1896

           ~American illustrator, author & naturalist

It’s a quintessential snow day as snowflakes tumble around the Springhouse at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

I shot this scene brimming with winter’s quiet beauty during a light January snowfall.

The log cabin was part of Springhouse, the summer home of General Harry C. Trexler (1854-1933), an American industrialist who built a business empire in Allentown. The park is his namesake.