Moon River Morning ...

“Moon river, wider than a mile

I’m crossing you in style someday

Oh, dream maker

You heartbreaker

Wherever you’re going I’m going your way

Two drifters off to see the world

There’s such a lot of world to see

We’re after the same rainbow’s end

Waiting round the bend

My huckleberry friend

Moon river and me.”

                  ~ “Moon River”

        ~ composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The moon meets the river on a beautiful morning in the surreal.

I created this image by blending my shot of the full Hunter’s Moon ~ when hunters used moonlight to hunt prey and prepare for winter ~ of October 20, 2021 as it shone its beauty at 8:22 p.m. over the West End of Allentown, Pennsylvania, with my capture of the early morning of May 31, 2022 at the Ford of the Jordan Creek, one of my very favorite places to be and to photograph, at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. I shot this after taking sunrise photos at the preserve. I spent several hours walking through the preserve’s beautiful spring scenery with the air soft and warm in the low 70s before temperatures soared into the 90s.

For more than 50 years visitors have enjoyed driving through the Jordan Creek. Kids and kids at heart cite “Crossing the Water” as one of their fondest memories.

 

Fording The Early Morning ...

“An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”

               ~ Henry David Thoreau

                        ~ 1817 ~ 1862

A vehicle crosses the spring waters at the Ford of the Jordan Creek, one of my very favorite places to be and to photograph, at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

I shot this in the early morning of May 31, 2022 after taking sunrise photos at the preserve. I spent several hours walking through the preserve’s beautiful spring scenery with the air soft and warm in the low 70s before temperatures soared into the 90s.

For more than 50 years visitors have enjoyed driving through the Jordan Creek. Kids and kids at heart cite “Crossing the Water” as one of their fondest memories.

 

Orange Is The Happiest Color ...

“Orange is the happiest color.”

        ~ Frank Sinatra

           ~ 1915 ~ 1998

Happiness, hues of orange and the hope of a new day frame the moments just after a gorgeous sunrise ~ the last of May ~ at the rooftop observation area of Trexler Environmental Center as the light of daybreak radiates throughout the rolling hills.

I shot this May 31, 2022 at the center, located in the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. The center is at one of the preserve’s highest elevations and one of the spots that offer spectacular views at the 1,100 acre preserve.

Solar panels provide a significant portion of the energy needs of the building.

When the late General Harry Clay Trexler (1854-1933) established the preserve in the early 1900s, he did it to save the American bison, elk and white-tailed deer from extinction and assure the species’ survival.

A conservationist along the lines of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, General Trexler understood the importance of nature and preserving wildlife in its natural habitat.

A successful businessman who amassed a fortune in the timber and cement industries and founded the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, General Trexler began purchasing small farms in the low hills of Lehigh County in 1906. By 1913, he had transported eight bison and 20 Virginia white-tailed deer to the preserve. The elk followed soon after.

When General Trexler died in 1933, he bequeathed the property to the residents of Lehigh County. Today, the Trexler Nature Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation and nature watching.