Get With The Program ...

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

     ~ Fred Rogers

      ~ 1928-2003

I captured this shot of the home of WLVT-TV PBS Channel 39, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from the walkway on the Hoover-Mason Trestle in the early afternoon of a late September day, just after summer segued into autumn but summer was still in the air.

The studios are housed in the PPL Public Media Center.

WLVT first signed on the air September 7, 1965, before I was even born, as a member of National Educational Television (NET) and eventually joined the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) at its inception in 1970. It is commonly known as PBS39.

Oh, the childhood memories I have of watching WLVT’s’s offerings such as Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood – my favorite was always when the trolley whisked us from the neighborhood to “The Land of Make Believe!” To a lesser extent, I liked The Electric Company, Hodgepodge Lodge, The New Zoo Revue and ZOOM.

The Hoover-Mason Trestle at SteelStacks – part of Artsquest – in SouthSide Bethlehem was an elevated rail line built to transport raw materials to the blast furnace of the iconic Bethlehem Steel. It was named after the engineering firm that designed and built it. The trestle was in use from 1907-1995.

Bethlehem Steel was an American steel and shipbuilding company that began operations in 1904 and was America’s second-largest steel producer and largest shipbuilder. The company’s roots trace to 1857 with the establishment of the Bethlehem Iron Company. Bethlehem Steel ceased operations in 2003.

SteelStacks is a 10-acre campus with indoor and outdoor venues, hosting festivals, concerts and community events.

ArtsQuest is a nonprofit organization providing access to art, culture and educational programs.

Shoot The Moon ...

“The summer days are gone too soon

You shoot the moon

And miss completely

And now you’re left to face the gloom

The empty room that once smelled sweetly

Of all the flowers you plucked if only

You knew the reason

Why you had to each be lonely

Was it just the season?

Now the fall is here again

You can’t begin to give in

It’s all over

When the snows come rolling through

You’re rolling too with some new lover

Will you think of times you’ve told me

That you knew the reason

Why we had to each be lonely

It was just the season”

   ~ “Shoot The Moon”

  ~ written by Jesse Harris

 ~recorded by Norah Jones

            ~ 2002

~ The track was part of “Come Away With Me,” Jones’ first full-length album that received Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart and several jazz charts.

The moon rises over the Kittatinny Ridge on a warm and beautiful last full weekend of summer, my most favorite of seasons, on a September evening along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap.

Yes, the summer days are gone too soon!

In the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, the Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware and the D&L Trail.

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Summer's Sweet Au Revoir ...

“One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.”

                     ~ Henry David Thoreau

                         ~ 1817-1862

Sunset sweeps across the Kittatinny Ridge on a warm and beautiful last full weekend of summer, my most favorite of seasons, on a September evening along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap.

In the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, the Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware and the D&L Trail.

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.