Thursday, August 11, 2022

The Fawn In August ...

 “… I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief …

For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

 ~ “The Peace of Wild Things”

 ~ Wendell Berry

 ~ born 1934

 ~ American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic & farmer

I came into the peace of wild things when I spotted this honey of a summer sight ~ a sweet, beautiful white-tailed deer fawn ~ posing on the banks of the Saucon Creek, with its mama doe nearby, on a gorgeous early August evening along the Saucon Rail Trail in the Saucon Valley, Hellertown, Pennsylvania.


 

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Ain't Nothin' Like A Summer Morning ...

“Many a forenoon have I stolen away, preferring to spend thus the most valued part of the day; for I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days, and spent them lavishly; nor do I regret that I did not waste more of them in the workshop or the teacher’s desk.”

       ~ Henry David Thoreau

         ~ 1817~1862

       ~ “Walden”

       ~ originally published August 9, 1854

 

To me, there’s nothing so beautiful in nature as a summer morning, and Thoreau’s words

seamlessly flow through this image of milkweed basking in the morning sun that I shot on a brilliant early July day at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 

If we all had more sunny hours and summer days, how much richer ~ and happier ~ we’d all be.


 

Thursday, August 4, 2022

Days Of Summer ...

“I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all ...”

                            ~ Jack Kerouac

                                    ~ 1922 ~ 1969

All seasons have their own special beauty, yet I have to say summer has always been my most favorite of seasons.

And what more could anyone who loves summer ask for than a quintessential summer afternoon ~  verdant, lush and warm ~ on a beautiful late July day along the Saucon Rail Trail, Hellertown, Pennsylvania.

It’s the perfect place for dreaming and remembrance … a place that seems to paintbrush the words of Jack Kerouac, “I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all …”


 

Monday, August 1, 2022

A Light In 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 the summer sun radiates a gorgeous light over the rolling hills in late August surrounding the rooftop observation area of Trexler Environmental Center.

The trees in the foreground have reserved seating to witness the splendor that God paints in the sky as the day segues into night.

Located in the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, the center 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, July 28, 2022

Wheels Up! ...

  “Wheels Up!”

 ~ Wheels Up is a colloquial term for the takeoff of an aircraft, occasionally applied to other vehicles.

It’s Wheels Up as a bicycle seems perched to be a sky rider in the blue summer sky at Cycle Funattic on an early July afternoon on in the downtown of historic Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Phillipsburg, a Delaware River Town, was established March 8, 1861 and named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area.

Established in 1998, Cycle Funattic is located in a turn of the century building on South Main Street. For more information visit https://www.cyclefunattic.com/.