~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
~ 1803 ~ 1882
Regal Red-Tailed Hawk peers from a high perch, gazing over the winter landscape in search of prey against a brilliant blue sky in the sunshine of a mid-February morning at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
This bird of prey is the most common hawk in North America.
“The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.”
~ Claude Monet
~ 1840 ~ 1926
Golden hues sweep and swirl across the winter sky as flocks of Canadian Geese glide toward the point of sunset on the Winter Solstice of December 21, 2022 in this abstract image I captured from the Jordan Creek Greenway at Covered Bridge Park, Orefield, Pennsylvania.
The Winter Solstice ~ the first day of winter ~ astronomically marks the beginning of lengthening days and shortening nights.
The word solstice comes from the Latin words for “sun” and “to stand still.” In the Northern Hemisphere, it always occurs around December 21 or 22.
“Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars
In other words: hold my hand
In other words: baby, kiss me …
… In other words: please be true
In other words: I love you”
~ “Fly Me to the Moon”
~ song written by Bart Howard & made famous by the wonderful Frank Sinatra
~originally titled “In Other Words,” the song was written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra’s 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions to the Moon.
Love can fly you to the moon, and in this case, the flight takes wing in the surreal!
I created this image by blending my shot of a Finnair plane soaring through the skies over Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania on February 18, 2023, with my capture of the Supermoon over Cedar Creek Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania on December 3, 2017.
Finnair is the flag carrier & largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helinski Airport, its hub. Finnair flies between Europe, Asia & North America via Helsinki.
“Snowdrops: Theirs is a fragile but hearty celebration … in the very teeth of winter.”
~ Louise Beebe Wilder
~American gardening writer & designer
whose books are now considered classics
of their era
~ 1878 ~ 1938
One little snowdrop sheens its hopeful beauty in the winter sunshine in this shot I captured February 18, 2023 at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.
In a winter shorn of snow to this point, this snowdrop still heralds the hope of the coming spring.
Snowdrops are hardy perennial, winter-flowering plants that are often heralded as the first sign of spring. They bloom as early as January or February whatever the weather ~ they will even push through frozen, snow-covered ground.
Snowdrops are also known as Candlemas Bells, as they were gathered at Candlemas February 2 to decorate churches before the Reformation. They were symbols of purity, which was connected to the rite of purification that Mary observed by going to the temple forty days after Christmas. The festival was formerly known in the Roman Catholic Church as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is now known as the Presentation of the Lord. In the Anglican Church it is called the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. During Candlemas, all of the candles to be used in the church for the coming year are blessed, and the faithful are invited to bring their own candles so that they can be blessed and used in the home for prayer throughout the year.
Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, named the snowdrop the Galanthus nivalis, “milk flower of the snow,” in 1753.
