“The beautiful
is a phenomenon which is never apparent of itself, but is reflected in a
thousand different works of the creator.”
~ Goethe
~ 1749 ~ 1832
A gorgeous
monarch butterfly ~ still beautiful even with a torn wing ~ alights on a lovely
mid-August afternoon as if in a dream on the grounds of Kreidersville Covered
Bridge, Allen Township, on the outskirts of Northampton, Pennsylvania.
Monarch
butterflies are one of the most recognizable species of butterflies in North
America. They are widely known for their incredible migratory pattern. They
travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles or more to their overwintering spots in
Mexico and Southern California from the northern United States and Canada.
Known
for its bright orange colors and its incredible annual migration, the migratory
monarch butterfly is now classified as “Endangered” by the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Hopefully
they will be saved from extinction! The world would indeed be bluer without these
beautiful butterflies.
Kreidersville
Covered Bridge was built in 1839 and is loved for its great history and
tranquil setting by the Hokendauqua Creek. It is the only covered bridge left
in Northampton County.
The pedestrian-only bridge that
crosses the Hokendauqua Creek is the oldest covered bridge in the Lehigh Valley
and one of the oldest in the state. The historic wooden Burr Truss Bridge has a
116-foot-long span and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1980.