"Once upon a time, the world was sweeter than we knew ...
But somehow once upon a time never comes again."
~ "Once Upon A Time"
~ Charles Strouse & Lee Adams
from the 1962 musical "All American"
Harkening back to a simpler, sweeter time,
a beautiful October morning frames the historic beauty
of Rex's Covered Bridge, North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.
Though diminutive in size, it's well traveled in this
picturesque rural area where it crosses the Jordan Creek.
Rex's is a wooden, 150-foot-long Burr Truss bridge
constructed in 1858. It has narrow horizontal siding
and a gable roof. It was listed on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1980.
"In summer, the song sings itself."
~ William Carlos Williams
1883-1963
Geiger's Covered Bridge paints a pop of red
to the country landscape in North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania
on a picturesque summer day.
The bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge. It is a
112-foot long Burr Truss bridge, constructed in 1860.
It has vertical plank siding and an entry portal of
stepped square planks. It crosses the Jordan Creek
and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1980. It can be accessed from The Covered Bridge Trail
of the Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.
"I found the poems in the field
and only wrote them down."
~ John Clare
~ 1793-1864
The words of the English poet John Clare came to life
to me when I photographed this scene just before sunset. It
was a waning summer evening just off the Ironton Rail Trail,
Whitehall, Pennsylvania, with the chirp of crickets and the
soft coo of a mourning dove the only sounds filling the air ...
a simple peace and a beautiful reminder to me of why
I love nature photography.
"Some days in late August at home are like this,
the air thin and eager like this,
with something in it sad and nostalgic and familiar..."
~ William Faulkner
~1897-1962
~ Southern American author
& Nobel Prize Laureate
"The Sound and The Fury"
~ 1929
A high contrast monochrome and painterly view of the Lehigh Valley on a summer evening from one of the beautiful summits at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.
"How green was my valley then ...
and the valley of them that have gone."
~ "How Green Was My Valley"
~ Richard Llewellyn
1939
The Lehigh Valley is wrapped in the lush green
of summer in this view from one of the beautiful
summits at Trexler Nature Preserve,
Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.
"Do not let Sunday be taken from you.
If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes
an orphan."
~ Albert Schweitzer
1875-1965
I saw this rural scene on an early summer Sunday
afternoon from the Ironton Rail Trail, which loops more than
nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and
North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.
The corridor was originally home to the
Ironton Railroad 1860-1984.
"Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth
plants something in his soul."
~ Thomas Merton
I always the sight of a picturesque country church, especially in the snow.
This is Jordan Evangelical Lutheran Church, Orefield, Pennsylvania
on a recent winter afternoon. The church was established in 1734.
" Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring."
~ Truman Capote, "Breakfast at Tiffany's."
Kreidersville Covered Bridge in Allen Township, Pennsylvania was built in 1839. The bridge is loved for its great history and tranquil setting by the Hokendauqua Creek. It is the only covered bridge left in Northampton County. Today it seemed the highlight of an autumn postcard.