The Mountains Are Calling ...

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”

                                    ~ John Muir

                                        ~ 1838-1914 

These words of John Muir surely resonated with me as I took this shot on a warm, late spring evening with sunset approaching, looking up at the Lehigh Gap Bridge spanning over the Lehigh River to the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain.

The Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Corridor Trail (D & L Trail). 

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

The Lehigh Gap Bridge was built in 1930 and rehabilitated in 1984.

                                                                                                                        

Peace On The Hillside ...

"There will be peace in the valley for me, some day
There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord I pray
There'll be no sadness, no sorrow
No trouble, trouble I see
There will be peace in the valley for me, for me."

                     ~ "Peace In The Valley"
                   ~ Written by Thomas A. Dorsey
                                        ~ 1937
              ~ Recorded by the great Elvis Presley
                                        ~ 1957 

Bright wild yellow mustard brushes a soft peace on a sun-filled May afternoon on a hillside of the Central Range of the Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, the only sounds the rustling of the spring breeze and the coo of a mourning dove. Perfect.

The color yellow is often associated with peace and happiness.

To me, this scene illustrates the still and serene beauty of God’s creation painted in that beautiful Gospel hymn “Peace in the Valley,” recorded by the great Elvis Presley in 1957.

 
                  

Cuddling As The Clouds Roll By ...

"One touch of nature makes 
the whole world kin."
               ~ William Shakespeare
                                ~ 1564-1616

This female mallard brooding her eight ducklings after a dip in the pond is a sweet sight on a spring evening at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania, as a white feather and reflections of clouds roll by in the water.

Female mallards brood their young regularly, particularly at night, as they easily chill. Brooding also keeps them safe.


         

Baby's Evening On The Range ...

"We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree;
But the whole of which these are shining parts, is the soul."
               ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
                                  ~ 1803-1882

What a sweet baby bison, and the first I’ve ever photographed!

Sweet and simple and simply sweet. That’s what I thought on seeing this beautiful female American Bison calf sipping water on a warm spring evening at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, where bison live as a herd on the hillsides of the 1,100-acre preserve’s Central Range.

I captured this shot in June, three weeks after the calf’s birth, and her mother stood closeby.

When the late General Harry C. Trexler 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.

The American Bison was recently designated the first national mammal of the United States. The majestic bison joins the bald eagle as a national symbol.