Walking In Bluebells ...

“The bluebell is the sweetest flower

That waves in summer air

Its blossoms have the mightiest power

To soothe my spirits care.”

               ~ “The Bluebell”

                      ~ Emily Bronte

                            ~ 1818-1848

                           ~ published 1846

This little girl walks among the beguiling bluebells blooming in early April near the banks of the Swabia Creek at Lock Ridge Park and Furnace Museum, Alburtis, Pennsylvania in this candid capture.

The blooming of the multitude of Lock Ridge bluebells – also called grape hyacinth – is a clarion call of spring in the Lehigh Valley, drawing many people to photograph and glimpse their beauty in the span of the few weeks they bloom.

Lock Ridge Park is a park built around an historic iron ore blast furnace just outside Alburtis, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley. The park preserves portions of the former Lock Ridge Iron Works, which dates back to 1868.  The 59-acre park was opened in August 1976.

Someday I'll Sing ...

“Who made the flowers to bloom in the spring

Who made the song for the robins to sing

And who hung the moon in the starry sky

Somebody bigger than you and I ...”

            ~ “Somebody Bigger Than You and I”

        ~ written by Johnny Lange, Hy Heath & Sonny Burke

     ~ recorded by the great Elvis Presley

                          ~ 1967

I spotted this sweet robin fledgling in the grass on an early June evening in Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania, reminding me of the line in my most favorite Gospel hymn, the beautiful “Somebody Bigger Than You and I,” recorded by the great Elvis Presley in 1967.

Someday this little fledgling will sing the song God made for the robins to sing … and sing beautifully!

Early Spring On Leaser Lake ...

“I saw that my life was a vast glowing page and I could do anything I wanted.”

                       ~ Jack Kerouac

                               ~ 1922-1969

A man paddles his canoe amidst the vast beauty of early spring on Leaser Lake, in the shadow of the northern Blue Mountain Ridge, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania.

Spring is the time of new beginnings, and boundless possibilities lie ahead as he charts his course while a late March sunset waits in the wings.

I shot this scene on the day before Easter, and the nearby church bells were chiming “I Love to Tell the Story,” the wonderful Gospel hymn written as a poem by English evangelist Katherine Hankey in 1866. It was set to music by William G. Fischer in 1869. The refrain, always appropriate but especially at Easter, is, “I love to tell the story, ‘twill be my theme in glory, To tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.” It was wonderful to hear that as I walked the trail looping around the lake on this warm evening.

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.