Monday, January 18, 2016

A River Runs Through It ...



"But memory is an autumn leaf that
murmurs a while in the wind
and then is heard no more."
                   ~ Khalil Gibran
                                 ~ 1883-1931

Leaves frame the autumn colors cascading across the Pequest River as it flows through the middle of town in Belvidere, New Jersey on a perfect Indian Summer day in November.

Belvidere, one of my very favorite places,
is a charming, Victorian town located on the
banks of the Pequest and Delaware Rivers.   

Friday, January 15, 2016

The Fruits Of Spring ...



"In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous."
                                             ~ Aristotle
                                                    ~ 385-322 B.C.

My favorite white-tailed deer doe enjoys an apple
in the early spring, painting a sweet sight as 
sunset draws near in the park.

I've been blessed to photograph this doe and her fawns
since 2012, and it's a true joy to me personally and
as a photographer.  

 

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Doe In The Spring Snow ...




"Born free, as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart ...
Live free and beauty surrounds you ...
Stay free, where no walls divide you ...
Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
'Cause you're born free."
                               ~ "Born Free"
                  ~title song of the 1966 film
        ~Music by John Barry, Lyrics by Don Black  

Beautiful and free white-tailed deer doe 
steps spritely through the spring snow in the park
as the grass peeks through what remains of winter
during a March sunset.

I've been blessed to photograph this doe and her fawns since 2012, and it's a true joy to me personally and as a photographer.    

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Strummin' Into Spring ...



"... I hitchhiked all the way down to Memphis ...
Just lookin' for a place to play,
Well, I thought my pickin' would set 'em on fire,
But nobody wanted to hire a guitar man ...

So I slept in the hobo jungles, 
Roamed a thousand miles of track,
Till I found myself in Mobile Alabama
At a club they call Big Jack's,
A little four-piece band was jammin',
So I took my guitar and I sat in,
I showed 'em what a band would sound like,
With a swingin' little guitar man.
Show 'em son ...

Guess who's leadin' that five-piece band,
Well, wouldn't ya know, it's that swingin' little guitar man."     
                                ~ "Guitar Man"
                                      ~ written by Jerry Reed
                           ~ recorded by the great Elvis Presley
                                                           ~ 1967   

This guitar, mounted on the outside wall of
Guitar Villa, Nazareth Pike, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
is strummin' into spring on a sunny day in early April,
reminding me of the great Elvis Presley singing
"Guitar Man," which he recorded in 1967.    

                                

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Song Of The Early Spring ...



"...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 

A robin sings its beautiful song in the early spring at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

This painterly capture of a sweet robin in March
epitomizes the line in my most favorite Gospel hymn, the beautiful "Somebody Bigger Than You And I," recorded by the great Elvis Presley in 1967. 

       

Monday, January 4, 2016

Bluesy Morning ...





" ... I look out my window and what do I see
I see a bird way up in a tree
I want to be free free
free - ee -ee -ee
I want to be free like the bird in the tree ..." 
                ~ "I Want To Be Free" ~
                    ~from the 1957 musical drama 
                          "Jailhouse Rock"                                           ~ recorded by the great Elvis Presley
  
Beautiful bluejay perched way up in a tree
soaks in a gorgeous sun splashed April morning
at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania. 
                                  

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Winding Into Red ...



"Nothing behind me,
Everything ahead of me,
As is ever so on the road." 
                              ~ Jack Kerouac
                                                 ~ 1922-1969
                                            ~ "On The Road"
                                                                     ~ 1957 

Though shorn of snow, it's a chilly December day
as the country road winds through the historic Schlicher Covered Bridge,
North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.

What lies ahead is the beautiful rural landscape at sunset ...
and endless possibilities.

Schlicher's is an historic wooden covered bridge. It is a 108-foot-long, Burr Truss bridge that crosses the Jordan Creek and was constructed in 1882. It has vertical plank siding and a gable roof. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and was closed for a time for needed renovations.

 

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Flight Into Sunset ...


"Softly the evening came ..."
                                     ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
                                                                 ~ 1807-1882 

 

Canadian Geese fly into a fiery sunset as the evening softly
comes to Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania
on the first day of winter in December 2014.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Covered In Christmas ...


"Remembrance, like a candle, burns brightest at Christmastime."
                                                                                                              ~ Charles Dickens
                                   ~ 1812-1870 

                                                               


Festooned in Christmas lights, the historic Wehr's Covered Bridge, Orefield, Pennsylvania sparkles with the joy of Christmastime on a December evening.

Wehr’s Covered Bridge is an historic wooden covered bridge located in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. 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 174 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!

Monday, December 21, 2015

In The Key Of Cool ...



"Hot can be cool, and cool can be hot, and each can be both.
But hot or cool, man, jazz is jazz."

                                       ~ Louis Armstrong
                                                   ~ 1901-1971 

 

Silhouetted hands bring a hot jazz number
to a crescendo in the key of cool in this image,
a portion of a jazzy mural in Easton, Pennsylvania
that I shot on a chilly November day. This is my
artistic interpretation of the mural image. 
 


I captured this cool mural of jazz silhouettes of musicians on the façade of the Hotel Lafayette as they literally paint the town. The mural features the shadows of musicians on keyboard, saxophone, trumpet and other jazz instruments against bright colors.



The mural is an Easton Main Street Initiative public art project created in 2012. It is a gift of the Easton Rotary Service Foundation in memory of Ted Pierce, who was the station manager of WEST radio, an outstanding and devoted citizen. He was a generous benefactor of the Easton community and Easton Rotary Service Foundation, as well as an exemplary journalist and key reporter on the Nuremburg War Crimes Trial for the Armed Forces Network. Pierce left a large amount of money for the Rotary Club to use on Easton-based projects.

           

The mural was designed and painted on the Fourth Street side of the building by the Freehand Mural Group of Easton.