Summer Swan ...

“Happiness, not in another place but this place … not for another hour, but this hour.”

                        ~ Walt Whitman

                               ~ 1819-1892

A beautiful mute swan glides on the water as sunset knocks on the door of a sweet summer evening along the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania, perhaps reflecting on the beauty of this sunkissed moment.

Shadowing Serenity ...

"Plant faith, grow hope, harvest love."

The light of sunset serenely shadow dances in October, harvesting a beautiful autumn scene at Hopewell Furnace.

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern Berks County near Elverson, Pennsylvania is an example of an American 19th century rural “iron plantation.” The buildings include a blast furnace, the ironmaster’s house and auxiliary structures including a blacksmith’s shop, a company store and several worker’s houses.

Hopewell Furnace was founded in 1771 by ironmaster Mark Bird for whom Birdsboro was named. The site’s most prosperous time was during the 1820–1840 period with a brief boom in production during the American Civil War. In the mid-19th century changes in iron making, including a shift from charcoal to anthracite rendered smaller furnaces like Hopewell obsolete. The site discontinued operations in 1883.

  

Today, Hopewell Furnace consists of 14 restored structures in the core historic area, 52 features on the List of Classified Structures, and a total of 848 mostly wooded acres. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site is located in the Hopewell Big Woods and surrounded by French Creek State Park on three sides and the State Game Lands to the south which preserves the lands the furnace utilized for its natural resources.

Leave Nothing But Footprints ...

“Bring nothing but silence

Show nothing but grace

Seek nothing but shelter

From the great human race

Take nothing but pictures

Kill nothing but time

Leave nothing but footprints

To show you came by.”

                                    

            ~ “Nothing But”

               ~ words & music by John Kay

A portion of the Kittattiny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, seamlessly slopes into the landscape on a serene summer evening at Lehigh Gap in this high contrast monochrome shot.

The Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Corridor Trail (D&L Trail).

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

The Lehigh Gap Bridge, slightly seen at right, was built in 1930 and rehabilitated in 1984, and spans the Lehigh River.

This scene echoes the beautiful chorus of the John Kay song “Nothing But.” The words “Leave Nothing But Footprints” are often seen placed on hiking trails, and in fact can be seen along the Walnutport Canal Towpath Trail a few miles to the south.