Meeting the Locals
Home sweet home away from home
Over the holiday season, we rented a little log cabin near Packwood, Washington (with cable and Internet access, of course!) and have been spending most of the weekends up here. Cooking, hiking, drinking, hot-tubbing — it’s not a bad life.
This morning, I got an up-close encounter with some of the four-legged locals when I went to take out the trash. At least a dozen elk were roaming along the street and through the neighbors’ front yards, nibbling at grass and plants… until I rudely interrupted them. At that point, they raised their heads and stared me down. Naturally, as a good city slicker, my first instinct was: get the camera. Then the second instinct: get the dog inside! I could just picture goofy Oscar, our golden retriever, galloping over to meet his new friends. Something tells me the elk wouldn’t have shared his enthusiasm.
Meeting the locals in Packwood, Washington
Of course, after I had whisked Oscar safely away into the house, I did grab my camera and returned to snap a few photos of the elk… who did not seem thrilled by my presence. It was a disconcerting way to start the morning, but now I know why the local grocery store sells coffee mugs emblazoned with the logo “Packwood: Elk Happens”.
