Sugaring The Kittatinny ...

“He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.”

                    ~ John Burroughs

                         ~1837-1921

A sugar dusted portion of the Kittattiny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, stands in majestic silence after a December snowfall on a winter afternoon 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 (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 Heron In Winter ...

"Be inspired by your journeys traveled,
and the ones yet to come."
                                        ~ Sam Clark
Majestic Great Blue Heron peers from its perch high in a tree on the first day of winter at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania. 

Confederate Rose ...

“Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders.”

                     ~ William Faulkner

                           ~ 1897-1962

     ~ Southern American author,

                  Nobel Prize Laureate

The grace, beauty and memory of The Old South dreamily bloom in this beautiful pink Confederate Rose on an October morning in the Lowcountry of Beaufort County, South Carolina.

The Legend Of The Confederate Rose

Once the Confederate Rose was pure white. During the Civil War, a soldier was fatally wounded in battle. He fell upon the rose as he lay dying. During the course of the two days he took to die, he bled more and more on the flower, till at last bloom was covered with his blood. When he died, the flower died with him. Thereafter, the Confederate Rose (or Cotton Rose), opens white, and over the course of the two days the bloom lasts, they turn gradually from white to pink to almost red, when the flower finally falls from the bush.

The Confederate Rose or hibiscus mutablis is actually a Chinese import. Brought into English gardens in the 1600’s, it is said to have gained favor in the South due to its ease of cultivation during the hard financial times after the Civil War. The hibiscus mutablis is a member of the hibiscus family which includes both the tropical hibiscus and the hardier Rose of Sharon. It is considered a large bush or a small multi-stemmed tree. The plant roots easily from cuttings and grows vigorously during the summer. Once established it is drought resistant. The blooms appear in the fall.

The Elk Of Winter ...

“There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm.”

               ~ Theodore Roosevelt

                     ~ 1858-1919
   ~Naturalist & Conservationist

  ~26^th President of The United States of America

                      ~ 1901-1909 
                                                                           
The Elk of Winter strike a regal and thoughtful pose on the first day of March at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, where elk live as a herd on the hillsides of the 1,100-acre preserve’s Central Range.

When the late General Harry C. Trexler 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.