Surrey Into Fall ...

“Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring.”

                        ~ Truman Capote

                                   ~ 1924-1984

                              ~“Breakfast At Tiffany’s"

                                             ~1958

What better way to soak in autumn’s beauty in full bloom along the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Corridor Trail (D&L Trail), Weissport, Pennsylvania than to ride in a surrey (multiple-person bike) on a gorgeous November day.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Surreys may be rented from Chantilly Goods and Weissport Washboard in historic Weissport. Chantilly Goods is an old fashion ice cream parlor, vintage soda fountain and candy shoppe. Walking into this old time soda shoppe is like stepping back in time into a 1920s and 1930s soda fountain.

Plumage On Parade ...

"You musn't be afraid to dream 
a little bigger, darling."
                        ~ from the film "Inception,"
                                             ~ 2010  
A domestic turkey puffs up, struts and parades
its beautiful plumage in March at the Lehigh Valley Zoo in Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.  

Golden Delicious ...

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
                              ~ George Eliot
                                           ~ 1819-1880

Autumn's paintbrush strokes a delicious golden 
hue on the trees beneath a cerulean blue sky on a gorgeous November afternoon at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

 

Miss Scarlett ...

"How beautifully leaves grow old.
How full of light and color are their last days."
                  ~ John Burroughs
                               ~ 1837-1921

The vibrant scarlet foliage of this beautiful red maple tree is not "Gone With The Wind" on a breezy November afternoon at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

Painting Dixie ...

“Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton

Old times they are not forgotten

Look away, look away, look away Dixieland

Oh I wish I was in Dixie, away, away

In Dixieland I take my stand to live and die in Dixie

For Dixieland, that’s where I was born

Early Lord one frosty morn

Look away, look away, look away Dixieland

Glory, glory hallelujah

Glory, glory hallelujah

Glory, glory hallelujah

His truth is marching on …”

  

          ~ “An American Trilogy”

 ~ songwriters Don Reedman, Nick Patrick and Robin Smith

           ~ recorded by the great Elvis Presley, 

                                                ~1972

 

The light of a southern fall sunset softly sweeps through the Spanish Moss and reflects in the lagoon, painting a serene Dixieland evening in the Lowcountry of Beaufort County, South Carolina.

Autumn In Dixie ...

“I was born and raised on a Carolina sea island and I carried the sunshine of the low-country, inked in dark gold, on my back and shoulders.”

                     ~ Pat Conroy

                           ~ 1945-2016

                                                                    

Autumn’s colors dance with Spanish Moss in the Dixieland breeze on a sunlit October day in the Lowcountry of Beaufort County, South Carolina.

The Legend of the Spanish Moss

The story says that Gorez Goz, a bearded Spanish villain, journeyed to our shores and spied a beautiful Indian maid. He bought her for a yard of braid and a little bar of soap.

The Indian maid was so afraid of this bearded beast that she fled cover over the hill and glade with him in pursuit. Tiring, she climbed to the top of a tree, with the Spaniard close behind. She dove from the tree to the stream below. The villian’s beard and whiskers became entangled in the branches holding him back while she got away.

Gorez Goz’s life was at a loss, but his beard lives on as dangling Spanish Moss!

Moon Over October ...

"Summer ends, and autumn comes,
and he who would have it otherwise
would have high tide always and
a full moon every night."
                    ~ Hal Borland
                                  ~ 1900-1978
    ~ American author, journalist & naturalist

The autumn leaves that top this tree seem to reach out to welcome the rising October moon on a beautiful evening at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.