Hank the camel is quite the guy. At 23 years old, he’s visited more of the country than most. Bought from an exotic animal auction in Missouri, he made his way to a zoo in the Pacific Northwest where he gave rides for ten years before being bought by a farm in Spanaway. I met him at a sad excuse for a Superhero Convention at the Ocean Shores Convention Center. I say sad because I can count on one hand the superheroes, but since Spiderman is a newfound favorite of Evelyn’s, I’m on board.
Back to Hank, most my information came from his handler but further investigation online led me to a polaroid of him being ridden in Gulf Shores, Alabama. There can’t be another Hank the camel in the US, can there?
Earlier while raking, I startled at the sight of a snake. When it didn’t move, I bent down for a closer look. As if frozen mid-slither, the full-sized Gardner was perfectly preserved, something I’m still shaking my head over. It did appear to have an impacted torso, as if something small had stepped on it, but why didn’t whatever it was eat it?
To beat double the drive time on Memorial Day Monday, we’re driving now when we should be sleeping.
Speaking of Memorial Day, I’ve been having a series of serendipitous government/war-related things come up. First, my Dad and I talked yesterday as he smoked a cigar post house painting about World War I and the mind-boggling millions of people that died. He told a story he heard of two hundred feet of land people warred over between trenches and how at the end of each day, the soldiers pulled the dead bodies to the side and resumed racing off the following.
Then last night, I watched “Legends Of The Fall” where the patriarch, a colonel in the US Navy, stepped down from his position after observing the government’s betrayal and massacre of Native Americans.
Then today, I pulled out an old shirt of Dave’s, one I wear every so often, that instead of Star Wars, reads “Stop Wars.” Usually, I wear it for the comfortable cottony feel, but heading into Ocean Shores, I stood tall, chest out, like, “Heck yeah, this is what I believe.”
Anyway, we’re on the final stretch. I better get this edited and posted, and then to bed.
Take care. Love, Jaclynn
Going On 40 