Homeless Camps in Worcester Woods

As there is a new housing project in the works in the woods near my grandfather's house, I decided to take a few nature walks to check out the forest and to hopefully find some endangered species or illicit substance growing naturally.
However, what I came across was far more poignant. At first, the displays appeared to be merely trash dumps, although so deep in the woods, it would have made no sense to drag large, heavy things so far, when maybe 50 feet would have been sufficient. The tableaus began to take on personalities, and haunting stories started to take shape. Children's toys, half buried under a few years of debris. A suitcase, packed in a hurry, flung open and abandoned. Tarps, sleeping bags, makeshift property lines, grills, firepits, and chairs arranged in living room fashion. It would appear that over the years, many desperate people or perhaps men on the outs with the law, have made this forest a temporary home. We even stumbled across one active camp, but we did not want to disturb its residents by getting too close. Mostly due to the fact that I am scared of homeless people and would have emptied my wallet of ones while running and screaming.
These are the pictures.


















Hey, you need something to sip on when you're sitting in your outdoor living room.





This was the active camp. There were two guys there, but we didn't get too close. I've traced my fear of the homeless back to that scene in Soapdish when Elisabeth Shue, playing a hot homeles mute, attacked Sally Fields with a butcher's knife.





PS. If you've ever wondered where middle schools order their beef eyes and pig uteri for dissection, check it out! I snagged it from the science teacher when he was looking the other way. I was all "Hey, look over there!"





*photos taken by lee duerden