Summertime At Geiger's Covered Bridge ...

“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy ...

 ~ “Summertime”

 ~ composed by George Gershwin in 1934

 for the 1935 opera “Porgy & Bess”

~ performed by such jazz greats as

 Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong,

 Sarah Vaughan & Billie Holiday

It’s summertime and the livin’ is easy at Geiger’s Covered Bridge on the warm, lazy and lush July evening – quintessential summer – I captured this HDR scene that beckons you to stop and soak in the splendor of my most favorite of seasons in this picturesque postcard of summer’s beauty.

 

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

 

Butterfly Kisses ...

“Ballet in the air ... twin butterflies until, twice white, they meet, they mate.”

     ~ Matsuo Basho ~ 1644-1694

       ~ Japanese Haiku

Mating white butterflies seem to do a delicate dance alighted on a leaf on an April afternoon along the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania.

 

Mad Orange Sunset ...

 “Meanwhile the sunsets are mad orange fools raging in the gloom....”

    ~ Jack Kerouac

        ~ 1922-1969

It’s a mad orange sunset as an early spring sundown in late March creates silhouetted beauty surrounding the rooftop observation area of Trexler Environmental Center.

The solar panels seen in the foreground provide a significant portion of the energy needs of the building.

Located in the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, the center is at one of the preserve’s highest elevations and one of the spots that offer spectacular views at the 1,100 acre preserve.

When the late General Harry Clay Trexler (1854-1933) established the preserve in the early 1900s, he did it to save the American bison, elk and white-tailed deer from extinction and assure the species’ survival. 

A conservationist along the lines of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, General Trexler understood the importance of nature and preserving wildlife in its natural habitat.

A successful businessman who amassed a fortune in the timber and cement industries and founded the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, General Trexler began purchasing small farms in the low hills of Lehigh County in 1906. By 1913, he had transported eight bison and 20 Virginia white-tailed deer to the preserve. The elk followed soon after.

When General Trexler died in 1933, he bequeathed the property to the residents of Lehigh County. Today, the Trexler Nature Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation and nature watching.