Americana Postcard ...

“Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.”

                                       ~ Mark Twain
                                            (Samuel Clemens)

                                              ~ 1835-1910

              

Sunset is on the doorstep of a late February day as a pickup truck prepares to drive over Wehr’s Covered Bridge in a scene that depicts an Americana Postcard.

Wehr’s Covered Bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge located in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. It is a three span, 117-foot-long, Burr Truss bridge, constructed in 1841. It has horizontal siding and a gable roof. It crosses the Jordan Creek and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The nearby Wehr’s Dam was built in 1904.

Miss Scarlett ...

"How beautifully leaves grow old.
How full of light and color are their last days."
                  ~ John Burroughs
                               ~ 1837-1921

The vibrant scarlet foliage of this beautiful red maple tree is not "Gone With The Wind" on a breezy November afternoon at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

We'll Have Manhattan ...

"...I've a cozy little flat in 
What is known as old Manhattan,
We'll settle down
Right here in town.


... We'll have Manhattan,
the Bronx and Staten Island too ...

The great big city's a wondrous toy
Just made for a girl and boy -
We'll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy."
                          ~ "Manhattan"
               ~Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, 1925
~ A popular song and part of the 
Great American Songbook, often known as
"We'll Have Manhattan" 

An artistic view of beautiful tulips in full
bloom in Lower Manhattan on a gorgeous April day in New York City, settled down in town to turn Manhattan into an isle of joy.   
               

       

Come October ...

"There is no season when such pleasant
and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce
so pleasant an effect on the feelings, 
as now in October."
                    ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
                                      ~ 1804-1864

Shades of a looming October sunset
dance on a picturesque scene at the historic
Hopewell Farm.

The farm is part of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern Berks County near Elverson, Pennsylvania, an example of an American 19th century rural "iron plantaation."
The buildings include a blast furnace, the
ironmaster's house and auxiliary structures
including a blacksmith's shop, a company store
and several worker's houses.

Hopewell Furnace was founded in 1771 by 
ironmaster Mark Bird for whom Birdsboro was named. The site's most prosperious time was 
during the 1820-1840 period with a brief boom in production during the American Civil War.
In the mid-19th century changes in ron making, including a shift from charcoal to anthracite
rendered smaller furnaces like Hopewell obsolete.
The site discontinued operations in 1883. 

Today, Hopewell Furnace consists of 14 restored 
structures in the core historic area, 52 features on
the List of Classified Structures, and a total of 848 mostly wooded areas. Hopewell Furnace National
Historic Site is located in the Hopewell Big Woods and surrounded by French Creek State Park on three sides and the State Game Lands
to the south which preserves the lands the furnace
utilized for its natural resources.   

  
 

Blanketing Bogert's Bridge ...

"Stillness is the flower of winter,
all hope waits beneath a blanket of white."
                                     ~ Author Unknown

Snow blankets the historic Bogert's Covered Bridge, on which sunset shadows dance
on a still January day in Lehigh Parkway,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

I stood knee deep in snow taking this shot a
few days after the historic Blizzard of 2016, 
the peaceful scene in stark contrast to 
the recent storm.

In a winter shorn of snow until the blizzard,
the storm plonked  31 inches of snow on
Allentown in a 24 hour period.

Bogert’s Covered Bridge spans 145 feet over the Little Lehigh Creek in Lehigh Parkway.

 Built in 1841, it’s history traces back to the mid-1700s when the Bogert family moved into a log cabin next to the future site of the bridge. It is the oldest covered bridge in Lehigh County and among the oldest in the country. It is open only to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, as well as the occasional rider on horseback.

 Bogert’s  Covered Bridge is a wooden Burr Truss bridge with vertical plank siding and a gable roof. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Winding Into Red ...

"Nothing behind me,

Everything ahead of me,

As is ever so on the road." 

                              ~ Jack Kerouac

                                                 ~ 1922-1969

                                            ~ "On The Road"

                                                                     ~ 1957 

Though shorn of snow, it's a chilly December day

as the country road winds through the historic Schlicher Covered Bridge,

North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.

What lies ahead is the beautiful rural landscape at sunset ...

and endless possibilities.

Schlicher's is an historic wooden covered bridge. It is a 108-foot-long, Burr Truss bridge that crosses the Jordan Creek and was constructed in 1882. It has vertical plank siding and a gable roof. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and was closed for a time for needed renovations.

 

Covered In Christmas ...

"Remembrance, like a candle, burns brightest at Christmastime."

                                                                                                              ~ Charles Dickens

                                   ~ 1812-1870 

                                                               

Festooned in Christmas lights, the historic Wehr's Covered Bridge, Orefield, Pennsylvania sparkles with the joy of Christmastime on a December evening.

Wehr’s Covered Bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge located in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. It is a three span, 117-foot-long, Burr Truss bridge, constructed in 1841. It has horizontal siding and a gable roof. It crosses the Jordan Creek and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The nearby Wehr’s Dam was built in 1904.

This beautiful bridge has seen travelers for 174 Christmastimes, but the true beauty is the reason and meaning of the season - the birth of Christ - which is timeless and remains the same.

Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas everyone!