Autumn has slowly crept into Bethlehem over the last month and it is everything I dreamt about last year when I made the decision to put Lehigh at the top of my list and commit to a year in Pennsylvania. California may have an endless summer, but Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, has Autumn. And, after an extended summer in the States, I am even more confident now than I was when I first chose Lehigh that I could not live without seasons. I love the cold, crisp blue sky and the crunch of leaves, I love the changing landscape and sprawling fiery trees.
I have been waiting so, so patiently for the perfect time to capture my beautiful campus, but today I just could not resist.
I didn't want to shut myself in my room or the library and work on my presentation in such perfect weather, so straight after class I went and dropped off my books, picked up my big camera and set off on a photo mission. Normally I get pretty self conscious when I take out my Canon, particularly in the domestic setting of a university, but today I decided that I would fully commit to taking photos, even if people looked at me strangely. I am not naturally a landscape photographer, but I want to be better, so I took time working with the harsh lighting to try and capture the colours as I saw them. I should have been patient and waited until the lighting was softer, but I was strangely energised at that particular moment, so I wanted to make the most of it.
After wandering from one side of the campus to the other seeking out the most vibrant and perfect trees, I set off back home, skipping down the sprawling steps and grinning from ear to ear. As I walked through Campus Square, I saw the view down the valley and over the river and made a quick decision not to return home, but to continue on into Bethlehem and take some more photos there.
Normally, I would not take my camera into the little city, acutely aware that my Canon is worth more than many South Bethlehem's residents' monthly income. The wealth divide between Lehigh and the surrounding area is incredibly embarrassing and uncomfortable, and I do not want to exploit the true residents by playing middle class tourist. But I just had to capture the beautiful natural landscape of the Lehigh Valley, so I decided that today I would take pictures.
I have been feeling a little more up and down recently, I have a great group of friends whom I love, but I struggle sometimes with the amount of time and energy I put into socialising. Yesterday I was worn out, tired of work and people, and missing Adam a lot, so I wanted to spend some time on my own today in the sunshine to find myself again.
It felt so good to just explore on my own, sorting out my thoughts, marveling at the array of colours before me. The path I took meandered along the canal, but I really wanted to be by the river, so I found a clearing in the trees and scaled down a small cliff to the water and sat on some rocks in the late afternoon sun. It was everything I needed, and I returned back to my apartment and my presentation content once more. Sometimes you just need to come away from buildings and people and work and all those little things that sit in the back of your mind that you know you need to do but just don't want to face and just be. It sounds cliche and pretentious, but its true.
I am so grateful to live here in this little valley. Many people dismiss Bethlehem because it is just an ordinary town in Pennyslvania, but there is so much beauty here. It feels like home. And even though these images can never fully encapsulate the stunning scenery and season, I am happy that I took the time to capture this time of year and this time of my life.
