Wednesday, August 31, 2022

A Whisper Of Autumn In August ...

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”

           ~ Oscar Wilde

             ~ 1854 ~ 1900

Though summer, my most favorite of seasons, is still in full bloom on the sun dappled trail, the scattered leaves whisper of the autumn to come on a beautiful mid-August afternoon along the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) in Laurys Station, North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.

 

I captured this shot after setting out from The Cove Road Trailhead, which is near a Lehigh River Water Trail access point at Treichler’s Bridge. The trail is part of the Asher F. Boyer Eagle Trail section of the D&L.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.


 

Monday, August 29, 2022

The Light Of August ...

“Memory believes before knowing remembers.”

    ~ William Faulkner

    ~ 1867 ~ 1962

  ~ one of my favorite authors, Southern American author and Nobel Prize Laureate

     ~ “Light In August”

     ~ 1932

It’s a sunset to remember as a sunflare brushes the deck of the rooftop observation area of Trexler Environmental Center as the summer sun radiates a gorgeous light over the silhouetted rolling hills in late August.

The center, located in the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, is at one of the preserve’s highest elevations and one of the spots that offer spectacular views at the 1,100 acre preserve.

Solar panels provide a significant portion of the energy needs of the building.

When the late General Harry Clay Trexler (1854-1933) 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.


 

Thursday, August 25, 2022

A Show Of Retro ...

“I adore the theater and I am a painter. I think the two are made for a marriage of love.

I will give all my soul to prove this once more.”

                 ~ Marc Chagall

                      ~ 1887-1985

        ~ on painting new ceiling for the Paris opera

                 ~ October 14, 1963

The historically cool Roxy Theatre paints a pop of retro on Main Street, Northampton, Pennsylvania in this painterly, HDR shot I captured on a beautiful mid-August afternoon.

The Roxy originally opened in 1921 as The Lyric, which can be seen engraved at the top of the building.  This theatre was renovated in 1933 in the tremendously popular art deco style ~ and renamed The Roxy after the famous New York City theatre and its namesake showman Samuel “Roxy” Rothapfel.

Today, as the city’s only commercial theatre, “The Roxy continues to be the greatest show in town,” presenting both Hollywood favorites and live entertainment. It features a seven rank Wurlitzer pipe organ.