I was doing my laps (walking) around the complex on my lunch break yesterday, doing my best to work up my cardiovascular levels, when I picked up a very faint noise amid the roar of traffic. At first I thought I was imagining things - too long in the big city and all that sort of thing - but then I heard it again. Since I used to be a birding tour guide at a sanctuary in central Nebraska for years, I knew exactly what the sound was. It is not a sound you ever forget.
I promise, there is nothing quite like the distant calling of a flock of Sandhill Cranes as they circle high overhead, climbing ever higher, calling as they go. When the wind is just right, perhaps, or maybe when someone in the group decided the time is right, the whole flock moves on in their journey, this time to the south.
So there I stood, on the pavement far below, relishing this little taste of the wild amid the hustle and bustle of urban life. For a girl from the country, stuck in the big city, this was a great gift. Thank you Earth Mother.
