The Easygoing Elk Of Evergreen

I am always fascinated by how many deer and elk run wild through the town of Evergreen, Colorado, located in the foothills west of Denver. Growing up in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, we also had Elks, but they were a different breed altogether. They used to get together at the Elks Club at 79th and Ashland, where my father was a member, and where our family used to dine every once in a while. I remember it had a television room right off a dark and cozy bar, popular with the member's children (the television room, not the bar). In the dining room, on weekends, they had a piano player named Two-Ton Baker, who would play old favorites while people dined. But the elk in Evergreen are altogether different. There is a large open space there called Elk Meadow Park, where I have never once seen an actual elk. However, I have seen a herd of them near the heart of downtown Evergreen, crossing the street at the crosswalk, no less, but against the light. I have also seen a large number of deer grazing on a hillside next to Upper Bear Creek Road, none of whom batted an eye when I walked up to take their photograph. And a few days ago, I took the photographs above of two elk just chilling out above that same road. I stood right in front of them to take those photos, and they just sat there as relaxed as can be and paid me no mind. Not even those Elks in Chicago would have done that. I'm very impressed.