Autumn Around The Bend ...

 “Autumn is the hush before winter.”

          ~ French proverb

A springhouse sits around the bend of the Little Lehigh Creek as it meanders through an early November afternoon, painting a serene autumnal scene at Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The Falling Of November ...

“It was November – the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines.”

                        ~ L.M. Montgomery

                            ~ 1874 ~ 1942

     

The tumbling leaves of autumn frame Monocacy Falls on a moody, mid-November afternoon at Monocacy Park, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Reverie And Reflection ...

“Our love is a dream, but in my reverie

I can see that this love was meant for me …

So love me as I love you in my reverie

Make my dream a reality …”

    ~ “My Reverie”

   ~ 1938 popular song with lyrics by Larry Clinton; its melody is based on the 1890 piano   piece “Reverie” by French classical composer Claude Debussy, 1862 ~ 1918

   ~ Recorded by artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby & Sarah Vaughn

When I saw this simple white bench perched with a view of trees reflecting in the Lehigh River on a beautiful early November afternoon, it made me think of Debussy’s “Reverie,” as I feel his compositions sound like art set to music. I presented the image in sepia to enhance that ethereal, dream-like mood that is reverie, and to mirror the beauty of autumn that is tinged with sadness.

I captured this shot this after setting out from the Cementon Trailhead of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Cementon, Pennsylvania, part of the Asher F. Boyer Eagle Trail section of the D&L.

 

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

 

Moonglow Meets The Delaware ...

“It must have been moonglow, way up in the blue,

It must have been moonglow that led me straight to you …”

                        ~  “Moonglow”

            ~ 1933 popular song & jazz standard

           ~ Will Hudson & Irving Mills, composers

               ~ Eddie DeLange, lyricist

   ~ “Moonglow & Theme from Picnic” is a 1956-releaased medley of both “Moonglow” & “Theme from Picnic” (1955) by Morris Stoloff – one of my favorite movies!

Moonglow meets the Delaware River over the historic Free Bridge during a soft purple twilight in autumn in the beautiful surreal.

Reflections from lights on the historic Northampton Street Bridge, commonly called the Free Bridge, trip the light fantastic as they dance in harmony on the Delaware River from my vantage point by the banks of the Delaware in Phillipsburg, New Jersey at dusk in late November.

Programmable LED lights illuminate the iconic bridge which spans the Delaware River to link Phillipsburg with Easton.

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.

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.

I created this image by blending my November 22, 2025 shot of the bridge with my capture of the Supermoon of December 3, 2017 shining brightly over Cedar Creek Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania. 

A Supermoon happens when the full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its orbit. Supermoons make the moon appear a little brighter and closer than normal.

The term Supermoon has only been used in the past 40 years.