Gone Camping

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I had a bad weekend.

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I lost a pet on Friday night: My 21-year-old leopard gecko, Sandy. I’ve had Sandy since she was a hatchling and I was a third grader.

I’ve had to say goodbye to lots of pets over my lifetime. It’s never not horrible. But I’ve taken care of that little animal every single day for my entire life. She’s been through everything with me. We literally grew up together and I adored her. I can’t tell you how strange and awful it is to suddenly not have her here anymore.

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I came here to shoot two days after my birthday, which was when I took Sandy to the vet. Sidebar? Don’t take a sick, elderly pet to the vet on your birthday. Unless you really love shitty presents.

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I’m jaded with a lot of my local abandonments. They don’t interest me. I wasn’t expecting to find much here, but I was really pleasantly surprised. I actually walked away with a lot of photos. I certainly didn’t think there’d be beds, furniture, toys, and like, six pianos.

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I used to work in an office down the street from here, when the camp was still open. It catered to special needs children. What I truly don’t understand is the location. It’s in a horrible spot, hidden behind a factory where the sounds of nature are swallowed by industrial generators and big rigs unloading deliveries.

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Wouldn’t it have been nice if instead of being left to rot, all this furniture was donated to a new camp, or a group home, or a homeless shelter, or or or or…

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See you at the next one.

 

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