From the Recollections of Life and Events in Wawona series
By Mark Reed
I don’t know how many of you have heard the story about the runaway monkey in Wawona. Well around the year 2000 this monkey decided to take a stroll of Wawona. Everyone who saw this monkey walking down the street could not figure out where she had come from and, most importantly, where was this monkey going. She was walking with a direct destination in mind. This monkey was going to the office to see if anyone could help her find her mom and dad.
She had been to the office on many occasions. Blaine was working that day and knew this monkey, so he approached her to see what he could do. The monkey turned around, walked over to his truck and got in. When Blaine went to his truck she jumped out and headed to the river. Blaine quickly followed. For about two hours Blaine tried to convince her to go back to the cabin she had come from. Blaine had no success. In fact the monkey stood up and chased Blaine into the river and would not let him out for thirty minutes.
My family and I were about two hundred yards down from where this monkey was. We were swimming in our favorite spot. I looked up the river and saw a monkey jumping around. Well this could not be Maggie, OUR monkey. She was safe back at the cabin. It hit me like a brick: just how many monkeys are running around Wawona? So I called out her name, “Maggie.” She let out a large squeak and started running to us. I could not believe what I was seeing. How did she get out? How long has she been running around Wawona? Boy, she was in a lot of trouble. She could have gotten lost or hurt. Maggie is a family member to us. She lives in our house, uses the toilet and flushes by herself. She gets her own snacks from the refrigerator. Most importantly, she has been going to Wawona all her life. She is now fourteen years old.
Maureen, I do not know if management ever told you but, the cabin she came from was yours. On that day the realtor wanted to show us the Black Oak Lodge so we left Maggie in her indoor cage. She was on vacation and she was going to have no part of being left behind. She figured out how to get out of the cage and after getting a quick snack from the fridge she took off on the mission of finding us.
The Maggie break out is still being talked about in the office.
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