Drawing Near The Christmas Bridge ...

“Remembrance, like a candle, burns brightest at Christmastime.”

   ~ Charles Dickens

        ~ 1812-1870

Travelers draw near the historic Wehr’s Covered Bridge, Orefield, Pennsylvania, festooned in Christmas lights as it sparkles with the joy of Christmastime on a December evening a few days before Christmas in this rich tone monochrome shot. Remnants of a snowfall that blanketed the region with 11.3 inches of snow a week before still cover the ground that surrounds the bridge.

 

Wehr’s Covered Bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge located in Covered Bridge Park in South Whitehall Township. It is a three span, 117-foot-long, Burr Truss bridge, constructed in 1841. It has horizontal siding and a gable roof. It crosses the Jordan Creek and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.The nearby Wehr’s Dam was built in 1904.

 

This beautiful bridge has seen travelers for 179 Christmastimes, but the true beauty is the reason and meaning of the season - the birth of Christ - which is timeless and remains the same.

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas everyone!

One Little Candle ...

“It is better to light just one little candle,

Than to stumble in the dark!

Better far that you light just one little candle,

All you need’s a tiny spark!

  

If we’d all say a prayer that the world would be free, 

The wonderful dawn of a new day we’ll see!

And, if everyone lit just one little candle,

What a bright world this would be!

 

Let’s all light one little candle,

Why stumble in the dark?

When the day is dark an’ dreary

And your way is hard to find,

Don’t let your heart be weary,

Just keep this thought in mind …

 

And, if everyone lit just one little candle,

What a bright world this would be!

 

What a bright world

This would be!”

          ~ “One Little Candle”

            ~ Music by George Mysels,

        Lyrics by Joseph Maloy Roach

               ~published 1952

     ~ Recorded by Perry Como

          & various other artists

 

“One Little Candle” is the theme song of the television show of The Christophers, a Christian inspirational group that was founded in 1945 by Father James Keller. The name of the group is derived from the Greek word christophoros, which means “Christ-bearer.”

 

The mission of The Christophers is to encourage people of all ages, and from all walks of life, to use their God-given talents to make a positive difference in the world. The mission is best expressed in The Christophers’ motto: “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”

 

The glow of a small electric votive candle pierces the darkness of a December evening a week before Christmas 2020 in the West End of Allentown, Pennsylvania, a day after 11.3 inches of snow blanketed the region.

 

As I shot this image, I thought it was particularly fitting as the world prepares to celebrate Christmas in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic.

 

Gold Nugget ...

“Taking pictures is like panning for gold. You do it again and again, and sometimes you find a nugget.”

          ~ Raghubir Singh

           ~Indian photographer

             ~ 1942-1999

Talk about autumn gold! I spotted this painted rock etched with the phrase “Gold Nugget” in the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap, Slatington, Pennsylvania on an October afternoon.

This painted rock is likely part of the The Kindness Rocks Project, which was founded by Megan Murphy of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, who wanted to spread encouraging messages to strangers by writing them on rocks she found on the beach. The practice spread and launched similar projects across the United States.

The grassroots project encourages people to leave rocks painted with inspiring messages along the path of life. People are encouraged to take one, share one or add to the pile. You can see just how much impact she’s made when looking up #TheKindnessRocksProject. Learn more about how to join the movement at http://thekindnessrocksproject.com.

The Lehigh Gap is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the 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.