Rainy Day At The Ritz ...

“I can’t imagine there has ever been a more gratifying time or place to be alive than America in the 1950s. No country had ever known such prosperity.”

         ~ Bill Bryson

         ~ American-British author

          ~ born 1951

In the mood for a steak sandwich & fries, barbecue or maybe a burger, all topped off with ice cream? Then look no further than the iconic Ritz Barbecue, a tasty staple on the grounds of the Allentown Fairgrounds since 1928 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Dine inside or step right up to the window to order as 1950s era music wafts outside and enjoy a slice of nostalgia served up by the eatery.

The Ritz serves up a pop of color in the painterly HDR image I shot in a rainy mist on a drizzly late December afternoon as the tree to the left is still festooned with Christmas lights.

 

Sunset Mirrors The Lehigh ...

“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.”

           ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

                ~1803-1882

A gorgeous mid-December sunset mirrors in the Lehigh River along the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail), Easton, Pennsylvania. The faint lights from buildings along the river can be seen in the distance.

 

I captured this after setting off from the Forks of the Delaware Trailhead of the D&L Trail at Delaware Canal State Park.

 

The Forks of the Delaware is the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers where Phillipsburg, New Jersey and Easton meet; it is where the Lehigh River merges into the Delaware River.

Phillipsburg and Easton are both historic Delaware River Towns. Phillipsburg was established March 8, 1861 and was named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area. Easton was founded in 1752.

The trail is positioned between the Delaware River and Delaware Canal, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978. The site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

 

The Apple Of Their Eyes ...

“You are the sunshine of my life

That’s why I’ll always be around

You are the apple of my eye,

Forever you’ll be in my heart …”

     ~ “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”

                         ~ Stevie Wonder

                     ~1974

My favorite white-tailed deer button buck – Buttons, as I call him, at left, – meets his apple at the same moment as his mama doe in mid-January at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania, a site to warm the heart on a winter’s evening.

I began photographing Buttons as a precious white-spotted fawn, then a sweet button buck and then a beautiful yearling until he migrated away in January 2020. Along the way I tossed him many apples, which he loved eating. It’s a true joy and blessing to me personally and as a photographer to have watched this white-tailed deer grow.