Goodnight, Dolly ...

 Goodnight and Godspeed, Dolly.

 We will always love you.

 

The Northampton Street Bridge – commonly called The Free Bridge – that spans the Delaware River linking Phillipsburg, New Jersey and Easton, Pennsylvania is illuminated in pink lights August 29 to honor the life and legacy of Dolly Parton. The beloved Queen of Country Music and philanthropist passed August 25, 2026 at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer.

I shot this from my vantage point by the banks of the Delaware in Phillipsburg, as sparkles of pink and gold reflect in the river at dusk.

“I Will Always Love You” is a song written and originally recorded by singer-songwriter Parton in 1973, and released in 1974. It was one of the many hits by the Grammy winner, a woman of strong Christian faith who also founded Imagination Library, a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas.

Programmable LED lights illuminate the iconic bridge. The lights were installed as part of a bridge rehabilitation/improvement project that spanned from late 2021 until spring 2023. The bridge is colloquially referred as the “Free Bridge” to distinguish it from the Easton-Phillipsburg Toll Bridge (previously the Bushkill Street Bridge), a short distance upstream.

Eligible civic, cultural, and community organizations may apply to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission to request temporary color schemes https://www.drjtbc.org/bridge-info/northampton-street-bridge-lighting.

The bridge that spans the two states was completed in 1896 and survived massive flooding from Hurricane Diane in 1955. It underwent a thorough restoration in 1990 and is one of my very favorite places to photograph.

 

Historic Phillipsburg was established March 8, 1861 and named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area. The historic town of Easton was founded in 1752 and is located at the confluence of the Delaware River and Lehigh River, known as the Forks-Of-The-Delaware. Both are Delaware River Towns.

The Free Bridge can also be seen from across the Delaware River at Delaware Canal State Park, Easton, near the Forks of the Delaware Trailhead of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail).

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

Safe Passage ...

“My home is in Heaven. I’m just traveling through this world.”

   ~ Billy Graham

   ~ 1918-2018

 ~ American evangelist, prominent evangelical Christian figure, and ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well-known internationally in the late 1940s. One of his biographers has placed him “among the most influential Christian leaders” of the 20^th century.

I spotted this “Jesus 2024” sign in front of Friedens United Church of Christ, Slatington, Pennsylvania and had to stop to photograph this uplifting sight as a car sped by on Route 873 on a late May evening in this election year.

In these tumultuous times especially, it is a reminder that when all else is failing, Jesus is still there for us, and a powerful reminder of the hope that Jesus brings as we travel through this world.

 

Shades of Alleluia ...

"A Christian should be 
an Alleluia from head to foot."
                   ~ St. Augustine
                               ~ 354-430 A.D.

It's a touchstone of faith in the city as banners
joyfully wave a colorful chorus of Alleluias outside Trinity Church at the corner of Broadway
and Wall Street in New York City in April.

The Episcopal parish in Lower Manhattan
was a refuge for relief workers after the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001. A sculpture
in front of the church was made out of a giant
sycamore tree destroyed on 9/11.     

Christmas Peace ...

"It's 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 on the new day we'll see

And if everyone lit just one little candle

What a bright world this would be ..."

                                    ~ "One Little Candle"

                                                ~ recorded by Perry Como, 1952

                                                   & the theme song of  "The Christophers,"

                                                   whose motto is, "It's better to light 

                                                  one candle than to curse the darkness." 

An artistic view of the Easton Peace Candle as

sunset touches twilight over the Pennsylvania city's Centre Square, and Old Glory proudly waves in the November wind.

The Easton Peace Candle is a tower-like structure erected every Christmas season in Easton, Pennsylvania. The approximately 106-foot tall structure, which resembles a giant candle, is assembled every year over the Soldier’s & Sailor’s Monument, a Civil War memorial in Centre Square. It is typically assembled in mid-November and lighted over Thanksgiving weekend and disassembled in early February each year.

The Peace Candle was first erected in 1951, and has been erected almost every year since then, having been replaced a few times due to damage or disrepair. It is dedicated to the Easton area men and women who have served or are serving in the United States armed forces.

It has been said to be the largest non-wax Christmas candle in the country. Although conceived with the hopes of restoring Easton’s pre-20^th century reputation for elaborate Christmas decorations, city officials also believed a candle would serve as a symbol of peace for all religions and denominations.