~ Jack Kerouac
~ 1922-1969
It’s a mad orange sunset as a summer sundown creates silhouetted beauty as it sweeps across Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania in this abstract image I captured on a beautiful late August evening.
“Orange is the happiest color.”
~ Frank Sinatra
~ 1915 ~ 1998
“Orange is my color ~ and it’s the happiest color!” thinks this gorgeous monarch butterfly ~ still beautiful even with a torn wing ~ as it alights on a lovely mid-August afternoon near an orange reflector 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.
“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.
