And All That Jazz ...

"Come on babe why don't we paint the town

And all that jazz ..."

                           ~ "All That Jazz" (alternatively "And All That Jazz")

                                           ~ opening song of the 1975 musical "Chicago"

I captured this cool mural of jazz silhouettes of musicians on the façade of the Hotel Lafayette, Easton, Pennsylvania as they literally paint the town on a chilly November day. The mural features the shadows of musicians on keyboard, saxophone, trumpet and other jazz instruments against bright colors.

The mural is an Easton Main Street Initiative public art project created in 2012. It is a gift of the Easton Rotary Service Foundation in memory of Ted Pierce, who was the station manager of WEST radio, an outstanding and devoted citizen. He was a generous benefactor of the Easton community and Easton Rotary Service Foundation, as well as an exemplary journalist and key reporter on the Nuremburg War Crimes Trial for the Armed Forces Network. Pierce left a large amount of money for the Rotary Club to use on Easton-based projects.

The mural was designed and painted on the Fourth Street side of the building by the Freehand Mural Group of Easton.

Coquette ...

  "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."

                    ~ Coco Chanel

                         ~1883-1971                                     

Beautiful mute swan strikes a coquettish pose while gliding along Lake Muhlenberg on a sunlit, chilly spring morning at Cedar Creek Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 

 

                                                              

Of Soldiers And Sailors ...

"Freedom is the last best hope of earth."

                               ~ Abraham Lincoln

                                                         ~ 1809-1865

                                ~ 16th President of the United States

                                                          ~ 1861-1865

Valor is celebrated as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument stands in 

the heart of downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania a few days before

Veteran's Day 2015. The statue of a rebel Confederate soldier (second from left) stands

beside a Union soldier with the phrase "One Flag, One Country" imprinted beneath them.

The rebel soldier was included on the monument as a gesture of reconciliation when

it was erected in 1899, only three decades after the Civil War, or the

War Between The States.  It is reportedly the only municipal monument in the North

honoring a Confederate soldier.

An inscription reads: "This column commemorates the valor and patriotism of the

Soldiers and Sailors of the County of Lehigh in the War of 1861-65." 

Indian Summer On The Delaware ...

"Each golden day was cherished to the full,

for one had the feeling that each must be the last.

Tommorrow it would be winter."

                                             ~ author Elizabeth Enright

                                                              ~ 1907-1968

Indian Summer is my most favorite of seasons with it's warm

golden days and crisp evenings ... the best of both worlds.

And it was a quintessential Indian Summer day in early November

when I shot this beautiful vista of the Delaware River

from the Riverton-Belvidere Toll Supported Bridge.

The bridge, which opened in 1904, links Belvidere, New Jersey and

Riverton, Pennsylvania.

Belvidere, one of my very favorite places, is a charming Victorian town

located on the banks of the Pequest and Delaware Rivers.

Jersey Autumntide ...

"Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees."

                 ~ author Faith Baldwin

                                 ~ 1893-1978

A beautiful pop of autumn color blazes brightly in the hilly terrain of historic Phillipsburg, New Jersey overlooking The Northampton Street Bridge as viewed from across the Delaware River in Easton, Pennsylvania at a November sunset.

The Northampton Street Bridge - commonly called The Free Bridge - that spans

the 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.

 

                                              

 

The Gilding ...

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting

and autumn a mosaic of them all."

                                       ~ Stanley Horowitz

 

Some moments are golden, as when this man and his dog enjoy

a sunkissed Indian Summer afternoon on a path decorated with

gilded autumn leaves along the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania.

 

A World With Octobers ...

" I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

                                                                      ~ L.M. Montgomery

                                                                                  ~ 1874-1942

          This man's thoughts could well be echoing the words of L.M. Montgomery as he soaks in the October beauty at the picturesque Hopewell Furnace, Elverson, Pennsylvania.

           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.

Spring Charm Video ...

Etta James' beautiful, jazzy "A Sunday Kind of Love" sets the mood for this 
celebration of spring showcased by my original photos. My greatest joy 
as a photographer is harmonizing my favorite original photos to music to create a lasting
snapshot of the season. Enjoy!
Also on my YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN7K5U5-h-s

In The Early Morning Mist ...

"...There are pale yellow mornings, when the mist burns slowly into day,
the air stings like autumn ..."
                     ~ Robert Hass
                       ~ born 1941
   ~ Poet Laureate of the United States
                              ~    1995-1997


The mist rises poetically soon after sunrise on a brisk and beautiful October morning near the ford of the Jordan Creek, one of my very favorite places to be and to photograph, at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. 

Music Of The Forest ...

"In the forest no tree grows straight.
But they all reach up towards
the light and the goodness in life."
                                          ~ Native American Proverb

As I was walking the trails of Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania
on an October day, I heard the beautiful strains of "Amazing Grace"
floating through the air. I looked up and saw this man playing the 
Gospel hymn on his Native American flute.