The Cuddle Up ...

 

“Happiness is the richest thing we will ever own.”

          ~ Donald Duck

 

Adorable mallard ducklings happily cuddle up ~ with their mama nearby ~ by the Coplay Creek on a beautiful early July evening along the Ironton Rail Trail, which loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.

 

The Ironton Railroad was a shortline railroad in Lehigh County. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to carrying Portland Cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20^th century. Much of the railroad had already been abandoned when it became part of Conrail in 1976, and the last of its trackage was removed in 1984.

 

In 1996, Whitehall Township purchased 9.2 miles of the right-of-way from Conrail, transforming it into the Ironton Rail Trail.

Orange Is The Happiest Color ...

“Orange is the happiest color.”

        ~ Frank Sinatra

           ~ 1915 ~ 1998

Happiness, hues of orange and the hope of a new day frame the moments just after a gorgeous sunrise ~ the last of May ~ at the rooftop observation area of Trexler Environmental Center as the light of daybreak radiates throughout the rolling hills.

I shot this May 31, 2022 at the center, located in the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. The center is at one of the preserve’s highest elevations and one of the spots that offer spectacular views at the 1,100 acre preserve.

Solar panels provide a significant portion of the energy needs of the building.

When the late General Harry Clay Trexler (1854-1933) established the preserve in the early 1900s, he did it to save the American bison, elk and white-tailed deer from extinction and assure the species’ survival.

A conservationist along the lines of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, General Trexler understood the importance of nature and preserving wildlife in its natural habitat.

A successful businessman who amassed a fortune in the timber and cement industries and founded the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, General Trexler began purchasing small farms in the low hills of Lehigh County in 1906. By 1913, he had transported eight bison and 20 Virginia white-tailed deer to the preserve. The elk followed soon after.

When General Trexler died in 1933, he bequeathed the property to the residents of Lehigh County. Today, the Trexler Nature Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation and nature watching.

 

Let It Breathe ...

“Awake, my dear. Be kind to your sleeping heart. Take it out into the vast, fields of Light, And let it breathe.”

                              ~ Hafiz

                                   ~1315-1390

Bright wild yellow mustard brushes a sweep of color on a sunny and peaceful May afternoon on a hillside of the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, awakening the landscape from the gray winter to the happiness of spring.

The color yellow is often associated with peace and happiness.