Nazareth, Northampton County

Well, the verdict is in - I've been battling an upper respiratory infection since the new year started. I'm doing much better now than I was these past two Wednesdays, and I'm easing myself back into the blogging saddle. I still have some lingering symptoms, so this update is a slow process.

I took the pictures in this blog post a few years ago when it was quite cold and the ground was covered with snow. As I write the post, it's actually even colder and, once again, the ground is covered in snow - meaning that the photos remain very accurate for the moment.

Christian Frederick Martin, Nazareth, Northampton County

Happy Groundhog Day! One of these years I'll get out to Gobbler's Knob and meet the famous Punxsutawney Phil for myself. Yes, there's a marker, but more importantly, there's a cute critter. Anyway, I'm hoping and praying that Phil has promised an early end to winter.

Unfortunately, regardless of what the Seer of Seers decrees, it's still really cold. So let's warm ourselves with some music by visiting the oldest guitar manufacturer in the United States.

Whitefield House, Nazareth, Northampton County

It's an unexpectedly balmy day in April, which is sort of amusing. The temperatures lately have been quite up and down, but today they're up for the warmest day all year thus far. 

So, weird confession. Despite it being an entire twelve miles from where I currently live, until very recently I never visited downtown Nazareth. I've been in or through its outskirts, but never in the community proper. A few weeks ago, finding myself with an unexpected afternoon completely free, I made a spontaneous decision to correct this oversight and collect the markers that Nazareth has to offer. There was still snow on the ground, which looks funny to me now as I write this post.

Funny thing about Nazareth - although Bethlehem is the place around here that's always touted as being a big part of Moravian history (and rightfully so), Nazareth also has Moravian origins. Not only that, but Nazareth's Moravian origins are what led to Bethlehem's.