The Oregon Ridge Nature Center

This morning, part of my family went to the Oregon Ridge Nature Center for their annual pancake breakfast.  The nature center is about 15 minutes south of us near the corner of Beaver Dam and Shawan Roads in Northern Baltimore County, Maryland.  The nature center is a woodsy retreat owned by the county which has managed to remain rural at heart despite the encroaching development surrounding the site.  The nature center has a playground, hiking trails, a beach and swimming spot in summer, and it is free! 

Many years ago my children slid on their slides, my son had  high school track meets there, I took a fly tying course for a fee at night, and my daughter Liz volunteered there helping inner city school kids discover nature.  They have night time owl hikes and birding.  Once I was lucky enough to be there on the night in spring when all the frogs emerged from their winter hibernation and there were thousands of frogs on every surface of the paths and parking lot.  That was amazing!

This morning was an oldfashioned, family affair.  There were some interesting people there in cluding these native americans who agreed to be photographed for this blog.  We had an excellent time.  I love the weekend.