Summer Dances Across Leaser Lake ...

“In summer, the song sings itself.”

      ~ William Carlos Williams

           ~ 1883 ~ 1963

Summer, my most favorite of seasons, dances across Leaser Lake in the shadow of the Blue Mountain Ridge, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania.

I shot this from the Leaser Lake Loop Trail on a beautiful mid-July afternoon.

Leaser Lake’s namesake is Frederick Leaser, an American patriot who in September 1777 with his farm team hauled The Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown where it was concealed in Zion Reformed Church for protection during the Revolutionary War. His homestead is located one mile north of the lake.

Leaser Lake was built by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for water-oriented recreation and opened for public use in 1971. Lehigh County leases this area from the state and operates and maintains the park. The land north of the lake was purchased by the county in the early 1970s. It is entirely wooded and is used for nature study and as an addition to the State Game Lands No. 217.

 

Chippy's Summer Evening ...

“True compassion is showing kindness towards animals, without expecting anything in return.”

                        ~ Paul Oxton

            ~founder & director of

                 Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation

An adorable chipmunk savors supper and a beautiful late June evening in early summer at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
 

Moon Dip On A Carolina Shore ...

“I stood face to face with the moon and the ocean and the future that spread out with all its bewildering immensity before me.”

   ~ Pat Conroy

    ~ 1945-2016

Footprints in the sand lead up to the Strawberry Moon dipping into the Atlantic Ocean at the edge of the shore in the surreal, surely seen by the man who left his footprints after coming face to face with the moon and the ocean and the future that spread out with all its bewildering immensity before him.

I created this image by blending my monochrome shot of Folly Field Beach Park, Hilton Head Island in the Lowcountry of South Carolina on a beautiful late October morning in 2018 with my shot of the Super Strawberry Moon holding court in the sky over the West End of Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley at 10:33 p.m. June 24, 2021.

 

This Super Strawberry Moon is the last near-Supermoon of 2021. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the name “Strawberry Moon” originated with Algonquin tribes in eastern North America, who knew the June full moon as a signal to gather ripening fruit of wild strawberries.

 

This Super Strawberry Moon rose just before 9 p.m. in the Lehigh Valley, about a half-hour passed sunset. It is the first full moon of summer 2021.