I grew up on Cape Cod but moved to PA as a teen. My stepdad from Baltimore is who started taking us to OC, and the place has had my heart since. He passed during covid, and I feel so close to him here. My 11 year old got in the water every day, jellyfish stings be damned. OC has my heart 🫶
He doesn't even know I did all of this, for him.
Last June I volunteered to maintain a couple beds at a local nature reserve. This one was taken over by stiltgrass. I hand pulled it all, bagged & tossed (only one person is licensed for herbicide use here). The first picture was June 2025 and the last two pictures were taken today - the native penstemon has filled out so nicely with the stiltgrass out of the way! Very satisfying. There's also lots of aster, packera aurea, milkweed, and more.