The Nearness Of You ...

This domestic white duck and white-crested duck share a moment in the
Monocacy Creek, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania this week. Perhaps they
were thinking of the 1938 song "The Nearness Of You," written by
Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington.

I Dream Of Winter ...

"Faith is the bird that feels the light
when the dawn is still dark." 
               ~ Rabindranath Tagore
                     ~    1861-1941

This Black-capped chickadee was perched on a winter's afternoon today at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania. 

Softly Comes The Winter ...

" The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
                                   ~ Robert Frost

The springhouse in Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania 
isn't exactly in the woods but looks like it could be on this
December afternoon. 
This log cabin was part of the summer estate of General Harry C. Trexler
(1854-1933), an American industrialist who built a business empire
in Allentown. The park is his namesake. 

A Taste of Snow

 

This male mallard duck seems to taste some December snow with the seeds he ate
atop one of the small bridges at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Painter's Box ...

"In nature, light creates the color.
In the picture, color creates the light." 
                                  ~ Hans Hofmann
                                            ~ 1880-1966
A window in the historic Bogert's  Covered Bridge, Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania frames a view of the Little Lehigh Creek flowing beneath the bridge today.

Sugared Canvas

 

"Snow on one side of the canvas, silence on the other.
I'd call that a perfect painting." ~ Jarod Kintz

The snow covered pond at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania looks
as if it were dusted with sugar on a December afternoon. 

Painting Autumn ... Video

Norah Jones' wistful "Painter Song" colors my original video, "Painting Autumn," a celebration of nature's beauty in this colorful season.

Gold Paint

"The substance of painting is light." ~ Andre Derain

The melted snow paints itself across the path in the afternoon sunshine this
week at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania. 

 

Come December ...

"Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a 
sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour." ~ John Boswell

Nestled in the snow, the springhouse at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 
is warmed by the afternoon December sun today. This log cabin was part of the summer
estate of General Harry C. Trexler (1854-1933) an American industrialist who built a 
business empire in Allentown. The park is his namesake. 

Little Shed In The Snow

"Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again." 
                                                      ~ Bill Morgan Jr.

This wooden shed looked so picturesque to me near the
Monocacy Creek, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on a winter's afternoon.

Painting The Chill ...

"December's wintry breath is already clouding the pond, frosting the pane,

obscuring summer's memory..."

 ~ John Geddes

The chilly waters of the Jordan Creek spill over Wehr's Dam, Orefield, Pennsylvania

 after this season's first snowfall. 

Out of The Past ...

"No man is rich enough to buy back his past."
                                                                    ~ Oscar Wilde

An autumn view this weekend from inside Wehr's Covered Bridge, Orefield, Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1841 and restored in 1965.
 

Precious

Beautiful white-tailed deer doe sniffs an apple before eating it this weekend in the park.

Autumnscape

"I loved autumn, the one season of the year that
God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it."
                                                        ~ Lee Maynard


I saw this picturesque scene on an autumn morning
a few weeks ago  just off the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania. 

Sentimental Journey ...

" God  gave us memories so that we may have roses in December."
                                                              ~ James Barrie

Seeing this rose petal nestled in the leaves at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania recently reminded me of the beautiful, sentimental words of James Barrie.

All That Heaven Allows ...

"Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were
looking through the gates of heaven." ~ John Lubbock

The gorgeous sky just before sunset last night at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, PA reminded me of the title of the 1955 movie, "All That Heaven Allows."

Painter's Brush

"Painting is the silence of thought and the music of light."
                                                     ~ Orhan Pamuk

It seems as if a painter's brush swept across the sky
 to create tonight's sunset at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Come Saturday Morning ...

"There is nowhere morning doesn't go." 
                                           ~ Leah Hager Cohen

The Jordan Creeks spills over Wehr's Dam on a beautiful Saturday morning this
weekend., bringing to mind the 1969 Sandpipers song, "Come Saturday Morning." 
Wehr's Dam is located at Wehr's Covered Bridge Park, Orefield, Pennsylvania.
The bridge was built in 1841 and restored in 1965.
       

Gilded Canopy

"Autumn ... the year's last, loveliest smile."
                                             ~ William Cullen Bryant
                                                                              ~1794-1878

Gilded autumn leaves create a canopy this morning at one of my favorite spots on the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania.

Reverie ...

"One of the best things about paintings is their silence - 
which prompts reflection and random reverie."
                                               ~ Mark Stevens

The Hockendauqua Creek flows beneath the historic Kreidersville Covered Bridge this weekend, creating a painterly scene.  Built in 1839,  the bridge in Allen Township, Pennsylvania, is the only covered bridge left in Northampton County.

Painter's Sky

"Be lost on a painted sky, where clouds are hung for the poet's eye...
          ~ Neil Diamond, "Be" from Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Sunset hues are painted across the sky this weekend at Trexler Memorial Park,
 Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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.                                         

Painting Light ...

"There was a time when meadow, grove and stream, 
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparell'd in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream."
                ~ William Wordsworth
       "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood"

The autumn sun paints the stream last weekend at Trexler Memorial Park,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Brushstrokes ...

" Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them."
                                 ~ John Ruskin

Sunset was like a painting in the sky yesterday at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Road To Brigadoon ...

"Brigadoon, Brigadoon, blooming under sable skies. Brigadoon, Brigadoon,
There my heart forever lies. Let the world grow cold around us, let the heavens cry above! Brigadoon, Brigadoon, in thy valley, there'll be love!"
                                       ~ "Brigadoon," Lerner & Loewe, 1947

As the morning light dapples on the path this weekend at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania, it seems as though it could be the road to Brigadoon!

Sunnyside Up

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."
                                                                           ~ Author Unknown

This yellow butterfly keeps his sunnyside up in the morning sunshine this weekend at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania, despite chilly temperatures and wind.

The Painter's Dream

"I dream my painting and I paint my dream."
                                                                     ~ Vincent van Gogh

I love finding the spots tucked away from the main path for photos. This is one of
my favorites just behind the springhouse at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania. On this November afternoon the scene looked like a painting to me.

October Gold

"When the sun has set, no candle can replace it."
                                                                      ~ George R.R. Martin

The October sky  shows its beauty at sunset tonight at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

October At Robin Hood Dell

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
                                                        ~ L.M. Montgomery, "Anne of Green Gables"

 October's golden light touches Robin Hood Dell at Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania  just before sunset today.

You Light Up My Life

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever." 
                                                                             ~ Carl Sagan
When I saw the sunlight filtering through the wings of these yellow butterflies on a beautiful Indian Summer day this weekend at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania, it reminded me of the 1977 Debby Boone song, "You Light Up My Life."