Full Stop Winter ...

 “Over the winter glaciers, I see the summer glow. And through the wind-piled snowdrift, the warm rosebuds below.”

          ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

                ~ 1803 ~ 1882

The stoplight at the intersection of Cedar Crest Boulevard & Broadway reflects in the creek at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania after a fresh mid-March snowfall has blanketed the landscape in this painterly, HDR image I captured in the waning days of winter.

                 

Weathered Winter Barn ...

“Are the days of winter sunshine just as sad for you, too? When it is misty, in the evenings, and I am out walking by myself, it seems to me that the rain is falling through my heart and causing it to crumble into ruins.”

                      ~ Gustave Flaubert

                            ~ 1821-1880

A weathered barn still has beauty as it brushes a beautiful pop of red color into the winter landscape just off the Ironton Rail Trail in the painterly HDR image I shot soon after a mid-January snowfall. The trail loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and North Whitehall Township, 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.

 

Summer At The Ford ...

“I saw that my life was a vast glowing page and I could do anything I wanted.”

     ~ Jack Kerouac

      ~ 1922-1969

The beauty of summer, my most favorite of seasons, wraps around the ford of the Jordan Creek on a beautiful late August evening at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

For more than 50 years kids and kids at heart have enjoyed driving through the creek.

The ford at the preserve is one of my very favorite places to be and to photograph.

Pennsylvania German Country In June ...

“It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something.”

 ~ Charles Dickens

  ~ 1812-1870

This picturesque 19^th century barn is the cornerstone of this peaceful and painterly rural spring scene on an early June evening in Egypt, Pennsylvania.

The barn and corn crib are part of the historic 1756 Troxell-Steckel Farm Museum.

The Coplay Creek runs through this 31 acre property, which was once part of a 400 acre farm. The centerpiece of the property is a stone farmhouse, built in 1756. A spring house and the barn are also on the property. The farmhouse is an authentic Pennsylvania German farmhouse and offers an example of Lehigh County agricultural history. The Troxell-Steckel house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

It is the region’s only authentically complete Pennsylvania German farm house, resembling its medieval ancestors and giving a captivating glimpse of the area’s farm history.

The Pennsylvania German farmhouse was constructed in 1756 by John Peter Troxell, an immigrant from Germany in search of a better life. When the structure was built, twenty years before the Declaration of Independence was signed, this farm sat on the edge of wilderness. George Washington was only 24 years old, and America was ruled by the King of England. At the time, the house was reported to be the largest residence on the Pennsylvania frontier. The fortress-like masonry walls of this structure are more than two feet thick.

In 1768, John Peter Troxell sold this farm to Peter Steckel, another immigrant from Germany. Pennsylvania Germans were one of the largest immigrant groups in Eastern Pennsylvania. Their traditions enriched American culture.

As someone of Irish-German heritage, I love getting a glimpse into Pennsylvania German history in the area.

This historic site is owned and operated by the Lehigh County Historical Society and is open for seasonal tours and events.

The Troxell-Steckel Farm Museum may also be accessed from the Ironton Rail Trail, which loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and North Whitehall Township.