In August my family gathered in Maryland for the memorial service for my mother. I grew up there and wanted to say a good bye to my mother and to my beloved Chesapeake Bay so my husband and I extended our trip and drove across the bay bridge to the Eastern Shore. We stopped in the little town of Oxford on the Delmarva Peninsula. We chose Oxford because it is historic and not at all touristy. After walking around town and visiting the history museum, we bought sandwiches at the little grocery store on the main street. The Wikipedia link shows the grocery store in the photo. It's the building with "ICE" printed on the side.

With our sandwiches in hand, we crossed the street to the town park to view the lovely water scene. As my husband, Rich, and I enjoyed the summer breeze off the water, we heard Spanish voices behind us. I turned and there were four Hispanic men sitting at a picnic table eating their lunch. We sat longer and watched the kids on the swings and adults reading books while keeping an eye on their children. Finally, we got up to leave and the Spanish-speaking men had left their table also. The table was surrounded by trash from their lunch containers even though there were three trash cans in sight where Rich and I had deposited our trash.

The men climbed into a truck labeled Oxford Lawn and Landscaping. Are there no Americans who will do these jobs? . . And I know that Americans toss trash out carelessly because I have done highway cleanup but this whole scene really trashed my otherwise beautiful day.