Showing posts with label rural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rural. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

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.   





  
 

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

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.

 

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Spring At Geiger's Covered Bridge ...




"On the first warm day in May
I hope you'll come a-callin' ...
We'll climb the hill ...
where all is still ..."
                                    ~ "The First Warm Day In May"
                                                   ~ recorded by Rosemary Clooney
                                                                            ~ 1952

A sun dappled afternoon at Geiger's Covered Bridge is the perfect
place to spend the first warm day in May. This is one of my very favorite
places to be and to photograph. There's a simple beauty and tranquility here 
in the stillness and I love to capture that essence in my photography. 

Geiger's is an historic wooden covered bridge in North Whitehall Township,
Pennsylvania. 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 Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

The Art Of Nostalgia ...


"We do not remember days, we remember moments."
                                                  ~ Cesare Pavese
                                                                 ~ 1908-1950

Afternoon shadows of the early spring dance
tranquilly in the April sunlight at Schlicher Covered Bridge,
an historic wooden covered bridge in North Whitehall Township,
Pennsylvania. Schlicher's 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. It recently reopened
after needed renovations. 

Friday, January 30, 2015

Bridge Over Frosted Water ...


"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose,
if there were no winter in our year!"
                                                            ~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson
                                                                                          ~ 1823-1911
                                                                        from "April Days"
                                                                                             ~ 1861

The historic Geiger's Covered Bridge crosses the frosted waters
of the Jordan Creek, painting a scene of quiet beauty 
just before a winter sunset.


Geiger’s Covered Bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge in North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. 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.

                       

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Once Upon A Time ...


"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. 

Thursday, September 4, 2014

A Country Red ...

  

 
"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.

 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

A Simple Peace ...


"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. 

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Once Upon The Long Ago ...

"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 Is My Valley ...


"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. 





     

Monday, June 23, 2014

Sunday In The Country ...


"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.
 

Monday, February 3, 2014

A Winter Peace

"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.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Framing Autumn




" 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.