The Color Of Hope ...

   “We have this hope

         as an anchor for the soul …”

               ~ Hebrews 6:19

                 ~ The Holy Bible

Hope is colored in pink on this painted rock I spotted during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in early October at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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 Autumn Crocus ...

“Child of the pensive autumn woods!

So lovely, though thou dwell obscure and lone …

Where shall I ever find

So rare a grace? In what shy solitudes? …”

            ~ “The Autumn Crocus”

              ~ Robert Laurence Binyon

             ~ English poet, dramatist & art scholar

                 ~ 1869 ~ 1943

Afternoon sunlight softly dances around an Autumn Crocus that emerges as a beacon of hope amidst the fading colors of fall on a beautiful early September day on the cusp of autumn at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Colchicum autumnale, commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron, naked boys or naked ladies, is a toxic autumn-blooming flowering plant that resembles the true crocuses, but is a member of the plant family Colchicaceae, unlike the true crocuses, which belong to the Iris family. It is called “naked boys/ladies” because the flowers emerge from the ground long before the leaves appear. Despite the vernacular name of “meadow saffron,” this plant is not the source of saffron, which is obtained from the saffron crocus, Crocus savitus ~ and that plant, too, is sometimes called “autumn crocus.”

 

If Only Summer Could Stay ...

 

“It was a lovely afternoon ~ such an afternoon as only September can produce when summer has stolen back for one more day of dream and glamour.”

    ~ L.M. Montgomery

     ~ 1874 ~ 1942

Blue Aster flowers bask in the warm, waning summer sunshine of a beautiful mid-September afternoon at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center at Lehigh Gap, Slatington, Pennsylvania.

 

Blue Aster flowers have large flowerheads that bloom in different shades of blue throughout the summer and early autumn. Their beautiful blue blooms range from light blue to deeper, vibrant dark-purple like blooms. Blue Aster is a popular choice for wildflower, native plant and butterfly gardens.

 

In the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, The Lehigh Gap is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails ~ the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (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.