Sunset Blazes Hopewell Lake ...

“We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way,

begin no day where we have ended another day,

and no sunrise finds us

where sunset has left us.”

                                ~ Khalil Gibran

                                          ~ 1883-1931

Sunset blazes across Hopewell Lake on a glorious, golden summer evening at French Creek State Park, Elverson, Pennsylvania.

The 7,526 acre park straddles northern Chester County and southern Berks County along French Creek and is located in the Hopewell Big Woods.

Set amidst the old, quaint and picturesque farmland of southeast Pennsylvania, French Creek State Park offers two lakes – Hopewell and Scotts Run – extensive forests and almost 40 miles of hiking trails. Adjacent to the park lies Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site that features a cold-blast furnace restored to its 1830s appearance.

French Creek State Park was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of State Parks as one of “25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks.”

Sunset Snuggle ...

"Study nature, love nature,
stay close to nature.
It will never fail you."
                    ~ Frank Lloyd Wright
                                 ~ 1867-1959

The light of an April sunset wraps softly
around these precious goslings as the
baby Canadian Geese snuggle at 
Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.   
 

Dancing In The Mirror ...

"There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle or the mirror 
that reflects it."
                    ~ Edith Wharton
                                   ~ 1862-1937 

The light of a waning winter sunset
dances as it is mirrored in the waters
spilling over a crest of the 
Little Lehigh Creek in Lehigh Parkway,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.   

The Spring Seeker ...

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

                          ~ Mark Twain

                                      (Samuel Clemens)

                                       ~ 1835-1910  

The rays of a waning winter sunset

brush this sweet robin perched atop

the highest branch of a tree at

Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania

as it dreams of the nearby spring

just around the corner.  

                                                                                                                                                                         

Fire Frost ...

"It is the life of the crystal,
the architect of the flake,
the fire of the frost,
the soul of the sunbeam,
This crisp winter air is full of it."
                       ~ John Burroughs
                                    ~1837-1921
                             ~ "Winter Sunshine"
                                           ~ 1875

The fire of the frost and the soul of the sunbeam
kiss at sunset, painting a fiery frozen beauty
at one of the highest elevations at
Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville,
Pennsylvania.

This is my abstract view of a snowy scene I shot
soon after the historic January Blizzard of 2016.
In a winter shorn of snow until the blizzard,
the storm plonked 31 inches of snow on nearby
Allentown in a 24 hour period.  

Winterset ...

"One day I will find the right words,
and they will be simple."
                                   ~ Jack Kerouac
                                          ~ 1922-1969

A simple and serene sunset splendor
shimmers across a frozen Leaser Lake
in the shadow of the northern
Blue Mountain Ridge, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania.

I shot this high contrast monochrome capture
in early February, as a quiet beauty
filled the chilly air. 

The lake's namesake is Frederick Leaser, who in Sept 1777 with his farm team hauled The Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown where it was concealed in Zion Reformed Church. His homestead is located one mile north of the lake.