At a house not far from me there is a truck with the license plate ELK FOR TWO, and I know they mean it – now and then something wrapped up hangs from a tree in their yard, although I have no idea if it’s an elk or a deer. (Actually, based on the sizes of two freezers for sale at the Home Depot – a smaller one saying GOT DEER? and a larger one saying GOT ELK? – I might have to guess deer, although a) it doesn’t really matter for this story and b) it just points out the parts of local culture I’m just not part of.) Now that truck is up for sale, so I have to wonder: is there a divorce? Will it now be ELK FOR ONE? Or NO MORE ELK? How about ELKLESS? Perhaps it’s GET A JOB AND STOP PRETENDING TO HUNT ELK CAUSE YEAH, THAT WAS A DEER, AND REALLY HIS FRIEND JOE HIT WITH WITH A TOYOTA but that might be too many letters for a license plate.
I never knew semi-suburban life in the intermountain west would raise so many questions.