Post-spring break awesomeness!

So it's been a week since we got back from Spring Break, and we've had some great projects in that time, and mostly great weather for those projects! Spring is definitely setting in now, and I'm loving it!

The first day back from Spring Break, we had a project with my IP doing some erosion control work at ponds in Wellfleet. The weather was gorgeous, and we got a lot done, so my service partner and I were very happy. It was great to see all the planning we put into the project come to fruition. We spent the morning at Dyer Pond laying down jute netting to catch soil from storm runoff on the paths, planted native plants to slow erosion, and installed fencing to direct visitor use to specific areas. In the afternoon we went to two other ponds, Spectacle and Slough, and installed more fencing at those areas. I didn't take many pictures that day, except for one of Suzanne with her arm in a hole we dug for a fence post:

Our next group service on Friday, I was part of a group that went to Orleans to plant beach grass. It was the third time I was supposed to go to this project, but the first two times it had been scheduled it got snowed out, so I was excited that I finally got to do it. The weather wasn't so great that day, but it only rained a little bit so it wasn't enough to make us stop working, and it actually helped make the holes in the sand for the grass because the wet sand held together so the holes didn't fill in as soon as we made them like some of them were doing in the morning when the sand was dry. It was a fun project, and it was great to see our progress at the end with all the little clumps of grass covering the dune. Here are some pictures of that day.

Then on Saturday we had an optional service project, which was an event Joelle planned for volunteers to come build bird boxes for bluebirds to nest in. Our task as AmeriCorps members was to assist the volunteers who came, and we also built some of the boxes during downtime. People who came to build them could take them home if they wanted to, or they could donate them to be placed on town conservation lands in Wellfleet, so the boxes that the AmeriCorps members made are part of the number that will be donated (I made 2!). It was a little cold and windy that day, but it was lots of fun, and the finished bird boxes look great! Here are some photos of that event as well.

Then today we had a project at Monomoy Island in Chatham that so far is one of my favorite projects we've done this year. We went out to South Monomoy in a boat with people from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and installed signs saying that the area was closed because of shorebird nesting. This involved carrying 4 signs at a time, which each weighed 8 pounds, and putting a sign up every so often along the beach. Then we'd go back to the pile and pick up more signs, and each time we went back for more the walk to put them in got longer because we had to walk past the signs we'd already put up before we got to the next area to place a sign. It was hard work, but it was so much fun because it was a beautiful day and we were out on the beach the whole time, and riding to and from the island on the boat was so fun! I was standing on the boat holding onto a handrail while we were speeding across the water and I thought to myself, I love my job! It's days like today that I really appreciate the things that I get to do in this program and how much fun I get to have!

Out on the boat!

We had to wear exposure suits while we were on the boat so that if we fell in we didn't get hypothermia. We looked like astronauts!

Me rocking the exposure suit

It was a gorgeous day to be out on the beach!

Carrying signs

Well that's it for now. I'm sure we'll have plenty more awesome service projects in awesome weather to update you on soon now that spring is here! Yay!