A Cut Above ...

“I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair

Borne, like a vapor, on the summer air

I see her tripping where the bright streams play

Happy as the daisies that dance on her way …”

          ~ “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”

             ~ 1854 parlor song by

                Stephen Foster

                   ~ 1826-1864

           ~popular song performed by

                 Barbershop Quartets

      ~ the opening line was notably used as the basis for the title of the 1960s TV series “I Dream of Jeannie”

As the oldest barber shop in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Woody’s Barber Shop is a cut above for sure! I shot this image of this mainstay in the West End of the city on an early May afternoon.

Woody’s Barber Shop has been in business for 91 years. Services include high and tights, flat tops, kids cuts, and old-fashioned regular haircuts.

 The barber’s pole is a type of sign used by barbers to signify the place or shop where they perform their craft. The trade sign is, by a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, a staff or pole with a helix of colored stripes (often red and white in many countries, but usually red, white and blue in the United States).

 For more information visit https://www.woodysbarbershopatown.com/.

 

May Springs Up At The Grist Mill ...

 “The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May.”

  ~ Edwin Way Teale

   ~ 1899-1980

   ~ American naturalist, photographer & writer

  ~Teale’s works serve as primary source material documenting environmental conditions across North America from 1930 – 1980. He is perhaps best known for his series “The American Seasons,” four books documenting over 75,000 miles (121,000 km) of automobile travel across North America following the changing seasons. 

 

It’s a beautiful Saucon Valley spring as the evening sun dapples upon the historic Heller-Wagner Grist Mill, located just off the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania, in this HDR image I shot on the first day of May.

 

The Grist Mill dates back to the 18^th century and operated into the 1950s. The Borough of Hellertown took ownership in 1965, and nearly two decades later it was turned over to the Hellertown Historical Society. The Grist Mill is now an historical museum and a portion of it, the Tavern Room, may be rented for private functions.

 

The grounds include The Wash House, the smallest stone structure overlooking the mill chase and ponds. Built in the 1700s, it most likely served as housing for early millers and their families, along with a portion of the Grist Mill. It is now referred to as The Wash House, because after the construction of the Miller’s House in the 1800’s, it was utilized to wash sacks for the grain and possibly as the family’s wash house.

 

The Grist Mill grounds also include The Miller’s House, home of the offices of the Hellertown Historical Society; and the 1860 Walnut Street Pony Bridge and a barn across the street.

Strollin' On An April Afternoon ...

“Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again.”

~ Gustav Mahler

~ 1860-1911

~ Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer

This late April afternoon sings of spring as a girl and her dog stroll down a path at Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania, about to walk under the Interstate 78 bridge that drapes above the peaceful parkway in this HDR image.

The busy interstate that drives above the bucolic setting is an interesting juxtaposition, but the bridge does nothing to detract from the serene paths, natural scenery and the Little Lehigh Creek, seen at right, that flows through the length of the parkway.

Interstate 78 is an east-west highway running 144 miles from northeast of Harrisburg through Allentown in Pennsylvania, and western and northern New Jersey to the Holland Tunnel and Lower Manhattan in New York City.