No Skating ...

“In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.”

              ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

                    ~ 1803-1882

A midwinter snowfall cascades around the “No Skating” sign at the pond on a February afternoon at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Whitetails In The Winter Mist ...

“I please myself with the graces of the winter scenery, and believe that we are as much touched by it as by the genial influences of summer.”

                      ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

                                ~ 1803-1882

Four beautiful white-tailed deer does show off their whitetails in the winter mist as a light rain falls in the late afternoon in the park.

Buck In The Falling Snow ...

“… I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief …

For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

           ~ “The Peace of Wild Things”

                   ~ Wendell Berry

                        ~ born 1934

         ~ American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic & farmer

A beautiful four point white-tailed deer buck strikes a majestic pose as a peaceful hush sweeps across the field as a midwinter snowfall begins cascading from the sky in this high contrast monochrome shot I captured in the park in the late afternoon of a February day.

Chickadee's Winter Reverie ...

“Our love is a dream, but in my reverie

I can see that this love was meant for me …

My dreams are as worthless as tin to me

Without you, life will never begin to be

So love me as I love you in my reverie

Make my dreams a reality, let’s dispense with formality

Come to me in my reverie …”

               ~ “My Reverie”

      ~ 1938 popular song, lyrics by Larry Clinton, melody based on 1890 piano piece “Reverie” by French classical composer Claude Debussy

        ~ recorded by artists including Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, Eddie Duchin, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughn & Ella Fitzgerald

Sweet Black-capped Chickadee seems to be in its own winter reverie on a rare warm February day at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

This North American songbird is the symbol of Massachusetts, Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.