Ridin' With The Bluebells ...

 “There is a silent eloquence in every wild bluebell

That fills my softened heart with bliss

That words could never tell…”

          ~ Anne Bronte

             ~ 1820 ~ 1849

         ~ “The Bluebell”

          ~ poem published in 1846 which highlights the emotional impact of nature, where the flower evokes nostalgic, bittersweet memories of childhood and happier times

 

A little girl rides her bicycle in the light of a soft spring morning amidst the beguiling bluebells blooming in early April near the banks of the Swabia Creek at Lock Ridge Park and Furnace Museum, Alburtis, Pennsylvania in this candid image.

The blooming of the multitude of Lock Ridge bluebells – also called grape hyacinth – is a clarion call of spring in the Lehigh Valley, drawing many people to photograph and glimpse their beauty in the span of the few weeks they bloom.

Lock Ridge Park is a park built around an historic iron ore blast furnace just outside Alburtis. The park preserves portions of the former Lock Ridge Iron Works, which dates back to 1868. The 59-acre park was opened in August 1976.

 

Wheels Up! ...

  “Wheels Up!”

 ~ Wheels Up is a colloquial term for the takeoff of an aircraft, occasionally applied to other vehicles.

It’s Wheels Up as a bicycle seems perched to be a sky rider in the blue summer sky at Cycle Funattic on an early July afternoon on in the downtown of historic Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Phillipsburg, a Delaware River Town, was established March 8, 1861 and named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area.

Established in 1998, Cycle Funattic is located in a turn of the century building on South Main Street. For more information visit https://www.cyclefunattic.com/.

A World Where It Was Always June ...

“I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.”

      ~ L.M. Montgomery

          ~ 1874-1942

A man cycles along the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania on a picturesque June afternoon a few days after summer, my most favorite of seasons, has just begun and starts to grow its beauty throughout the landscape.

The gorgeous day made me think of L.M. Montgomery’s words, “I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.” I think, what a wonderful world that would be!

Fancy Meeting You Here ...

“Fancy meeting you here!”

   ~ an amiable greeting, often when one is surprised to see someone

A white-tailed deer doe and a man bicycling are surprised to be in each other’s paths on a beautiful late June evening along the Ironton Rail Trail, which loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and North Whitehall Township in Pennsylvania.

The Ironton Railroad was a shortline railroad in Lehigh County. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to carrying Portland Cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20^th century. Much of the railroad had already been abandoned when it became part of Conrail in 1976, and the last of its trackage was removed in 1984.

In 1996, Whitehall Township purchased 9.2 miles of the right-of-way from Conrail, transforming it into the Ironton Rail Trail.