The Migration of Cranes... and a Poem of Gratitude

 Hello All and welcome to Spiritual Journey Thursday, this month hosted by Ruth Hersey from Kampala, Uganda. Thank you, Ruth! Because we are in the Christian season of Lent, Ruth prompted us to write a psalm of lament. I love this prompt, but decided to save it for another time because I have an amazing experience to share. 

I just returned Nebraska where my niece Becky invited me to see the migration of the sandhill cranes. This natural phenomenon was on my bucket list, and it did not disappoint. The count of cranes is the highest ever: 736,000! 

The migration of cranes is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena, comparable to the migrations of wildebeest and caribou. Every year, 400,000 to 600,000 sandhill cranes—80 percent of all the cranes on the planet—congregate along an 80-mile stretch of the central Platte River in Nebraska to fatten up on waste grain in the empty cornfields before continuing their journey to their Arctic and subarctic nesting grounds.

The sandhill cranes' migration is also one of the oldest known bird migrations, with fossil records indicating that it has been occurring for millions of years.

text & photos from internet

Every spring, cranes migrate from Texas, southern California and Florida, coming together for a stopover in Nebraska, and then fan out again to their northern breeding grounds. Within a span of 50 miles or so, cranes gather along the Platte to rest, eat, and dance their dances before heading north to reach their breeding grounds. 

What we saw: Cold wind and rain greeted us. We spent our first full day birding from the car. Cranes were everywhere in the fields, even along I-80, gleaning corn and wheat, insects and any small animal that came in their path . Sometimes we saw a few in a group, sometimes the entire field seemed alive with cranes. A few were close enough to see the red on their heads, and to see them jumping and flapping. 

The next day was dry and we went to the Platte River at sunset to watch the cranes return for the night. The water provides them sanctuary since an approaching predator's splash would raise an alarm. From a bridge over the river, in a cold wind, we heard and saw long skeins of cranes gathering, circling and calling to each other.  In gathering darkness we could hear them before we saw them. Skein after skein seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Huge numbers flew right over us amid a cacophony of ancient voices! Various voices, both low pitch and high, clacked, thrummed, and filled the air with a sense of burgeoning life.  There is something eerie and primeval in their calls, especially when you hear a large group. We almost expected to see dinosaur footprints in the sandbars of the Platte. 

You can learn about sandhill cranes HERE.

I'm especially grateful to Becky for planning and hosting this trip. The sights and sounds will stay with me for a long time. Just to be on that ancient flyway was remarkable. I have been on the Platte in the past, but I have an entirely new appreciation for it now.

Also deep appreciation to my niece Ruth who drove 9 hours in stiff wind to join us. 

Ruth, me, Becky

We hoped the cranes would land in front of us and that we might get photos of them in the sunset. Instead, they roosted further along the river. Still, we experienced the flyover of hundreds, if not thousands, of cranes. I can't find words to fully express it.

David Budbill wrote a poem after seeing a sunset. He ends his poem with the same sense that I felt after seeing the cranes. So... without further ado:

photo from my trip to Alaska

Winter: Tonight: Sunset

David Budbill

... I stop

and look at the sky. Suddenly: orange, red, pink, blue,
green, purple, yellow, gray, all at once and everywhere.

I pause in this moment at the beginning of my old age
and I say a prayer of gratitude for getting to this evening

a prayer of being here, today, now, alive
in this life, in this evening, under this sky.

***

Sometimes we see something so astounding or beautiful, so wrenching or tender, that our hearts are too full to be able to articulate. For me, poetry fills the gap.

Thanks again to Ruth Hersey. Please take time to read her beautiful lament HERE, and to follow the links to other posts in this Spiritual Journey group.

Poetry Friday

I haven't posted for a while as the fall and early winter were crazy for me, but this week I came across this poem and loved it so much, I had to share. Enjoy!

Snow in the Suburbs 

by Thomas Hardy

Every branch big with it
Bent every twig with it

Every fork like a white web-foot;

Every street and pavement mute:

Some flakes have lost their way, and grope back upward, when

Meeting those meandering down they turn and descend again.

The palings are glued together like a wall,

And there is no waft of wind with the fleecy fall.

A sparrow enters the tree,

Whereon immediately

A snow-hump thrice his own slight size

Descends on him and showers his head and eyes,

And overturns him,

And near inurns him,

And lights on a nether twig, when its brush

Starts off a volley of other lodging lumps with a rush.

The steps are a blanched slope,

Up which, with feeble hope,

A black cat comes, wide-eyed and thin,

And we take him in.

Happy Friday, and happy Valentine's Day. May your day be full of heartwarming words and perhaps a few chocolates!  Thanks to the amazing Linda Baie for hosting today.  You can find her post and links to the rest of the Poetry Friday gang HERE. 

Roadblocks and Open Roads

 Welcome to Spiritual Journey Thursday, February 6, 2025. Thanks to Bob Hamera for hosting and providing our prompt today. Bob suggests we write about roadblocks and open roads.  You can find his response as well as links to others in the group HERE.

Do you remember a time when you hit roadblocks? It happens to all of us.

I remember a particular Saturday morning when I went out to do errands. Upon return, I found that all my usual roads of return were blocked. I drove and drove, trying one road after another. All blocked!  What on earth was happening?  

It was probably my third or fourth roadblock when I began imagining train accidents or toxic spills from local businesses. I began to panic a bit. I called home. Hubby was safe and sound but had no clue about the blocked roads.  I stopped at a gas station on the edge of town to see if they knew what the problem was. They had no idea.

I saw a Public Works vehicle go into town via a road I had tried previously, and I thought I could follow it, but by the time I got to the intersection the barrier was up again. What was it?? 

My plans for the day were fading. I needed a break, a safe place to sit and think. I needed to be still. In my confusion, however, I could not decide where to go. Instead, I kept driving.

Finally -- finally!-- I came upon an open road. And on the way home I saw barriers being taken down.  Then it dawned on me. There was a local 5-K race! Streets were closed for a good reason! The weight of worry and fear lifted, and I had to shake my head at myself. In less than one hour my composure had been called into question, and I had come close to losing it. 

I wonder if this happens in our spiritual journeys. We get caught up in our own plans, our own thoughts, and we forget that we are not in charge. Sometimes, for reasons we have overlooked or forgotten, the road is blocked in front of us. And we can't figure out what has happened, we become frightened, and maybe panic sets in. We feel the need to find a quiet place, to be still and think. And pray.

When there's a roadblock before you, I hope you will stop and find a quiet place. I hope the stillness will bring you closer to God, and to God's peace. And I hope, finally, the road will come open for you.

John 14:27

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Many wishes for a good month ahead.

Welcome to 2025 and my OLW

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 will be a good one for you.  

Thanks to Margaret Simon for organizing the Spiritual Journey Thursday group, and especially for this new and beautiful image. Find here blog HERE.

It's time to figure out my OLW (One Little Word) which will guide my posts throughout the year. I had a lot of fun with SONG as my OLW last year. This year I'm choosing STILL as my word. 

I'm a Martha kind of person. I tend to keep myself busy. I like my activities: keeping my home, reading, singing in choir, gardening, writing, teaching, praying. As times goes on, however, I realize limits of energy and time. I'm learning to appreciate still times.

Some years ago I had this little quote on my refrigerator. 

God is the still point

at the center

utterly at home

God lives in us forever.

- Julian of Norwich

Winter is a good season to be still.  It can offer quiet time, a slowing of our crazy busy lives. This is a good time to weigh the benefits of stillness. To listen for the still small voice. 

from a 2016 calendar by Wendy Bentley

I hope to hear from you in the days ahead. Let me know if you find solace in stillness.

Here is a beautiful hymn, one of my father's favorites, to the tune of Finlandia by Sibelius.

Best wishes for a safe, healthy, and restful January. 

Our Country, Our World

 Welcome to the November edition of SJT :  Spiritual Journey Thursday. This group generally posts on the first Thursday of the month. Thanks to Linda Mitchell for hosting this month and for providing the prompt: Your World, My world, Our World.  You can find her post and the posts of others here.

For those of you who have been following me, I have a new computer now, but I'm still figuring out all the ins and outs. It's a good thing, I'm just not at a comfort level yet. Nonetheless, thanks to my husband who has provided technical support.

In commemoration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of our nation, I've been in a little discussion group based on James Michener's Centennial.  I finished the book today, all 909 pages, and I am rightfully awed as Michener's ability to present such an amazing scope of history and such momentous insights and questions. Michener's stories suggest that we face the same questions over and over again: 

        How do we respect our history and still honestly face our failures?

        How do we heal our divisions?

        How do we embrace progress while giving due respect to our land?

I come away from this book with a renewed sense of respect and love for the history and beauty of our land.  And tonight, as we reveal the votes... how will we go forward?

I pray for peace, truth, and respect. I pray that we will respond with grace. 

My One Little Word this year is song. Here are a couple of songs of encouragement:

Give Me Oil in My Lamp 

Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning

May we all know God's peace, and may we share it with those around us.

To Pause... To Reflect... To Renew

 Welcome to another Spiritual Journey post. This month is hosted by Carol Varsalona, who challenged us to Pause to Reflect and consider the worth and meaning of Pausing in our lives.  Find Carol's entry and links to others in the group HERE>  Thank you, Carol!

This is a quiet time for me. I have a month's pause from several of my usual activities, and I have been resting, reading, gardening and visiting family and friends. I'm grateful for this time. Pausing allows me to take in more of the wonder and beauty that the world offers. So often our eyes are blinded by our own thoughts, plans, and expectations. We forget to pause and really take it all in.

The other day my husband went out to start sprinklers on our lawn. When he came in we exchanged a few words and I barely glanced at him. When I looked more carefully, I noticed he had water splotched all over his shirt. I had completely missed it at first and I realized I had not paused to focus. We had a little laugh over his "shower," a bit of fun I would have missed had I not paused. 

How often do we pause to look a person in the eye, read their expressions, appreciate their beauty? How often do we pause to allow the world to surprise us?

I was reminded of Snow Geese by Mary Oliver, which seems an excellent example of pausing and reflecting.  Here are some quotes from it:

Snow Geese

by Mary Oliver

...

One fall day I heard
above me, and above the sting of the wind, a sound
I did not know, and my look shot upward; it was
a flock of snow geese, winging it
faster than the ones we usually see,
and, being the color of snow, catching the sun
so they were, in part at least, golden. I
held my breath
as we do
sometimes
to stop time
when something wonderful
has touched us

...

The geese
flew on,
I have never seen them again.
Maybe I will, someday, somewhere.
Maybe I won't.
It doesn't matter.
What matters
is that, when I saw them,
I saw them
as through the veil, secretly, joyfully, clearly.

Read the entire poem HERE.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had the inclination and opportunity to pause and to reflect, to enjoy, to wonder and to be dazzled? How much more renewed and delighted we might be. How much more joyfully and clearly we might see the world.  I hope you will be so blessed.

A notice: Between software updates and my old computer, I can't add pictures to my blog today.  I'm disappointed and I apologize for the lack of color and interest. I hope to solve this issue!

A Song of... I don't know?

 Welcome to a belated post in the Thursday Spiritual Journey Group.  Ruth Hersey is hosting, and has provided the prompt "I don't know."  Where will it lead?

I've had a most remarkable week.   

I have been leading the craft section of our church's Vacation Bible School. We had about 60 children, ages 4yrs to 6th grade.  Each day they came through our craft room in age groupings, and we provided craft activities for 25 minutes.  Five groups each morning. Move, move, move!

Early in the week we painted with forks to make puffer fish, folded origami angel fish, made whales and decorated whale flukes. We provided a verse or message with most crafts, affirming that each is a "child of God."  Midweek we made craft stick anchors and talked about the cross at the top. "We have this hope as an anchor." 

my sample... we learned that one big fish was challenge enough!

We cut pool noodles and set up an assembly line to make a little floating boat, crewed by a craft stick person and bearing a flag with the fisherman's prayer. Who doesn't love a floating craft? Friday we shared contagious giggles over our sharks... creative license led to baby vampire sharks, girl sharks with hair and hair bows, cross-eyed sharks, etc. We loved the number of legs on our metallic orange cupcake- liner crabs. Our message read "God is a friend you can trust" and we quietly added "even when you're crabby."

I've had an amazing, large and dedicated group of helpers. It has turned out to be such a wonderful week. Hectic? Yes. Energy draining? Yes. Rewarding? Yes.

I went into this week with excitement and trepidation. I knew I would love the kids, and I love providing crafts, but could we put it all together and make it work? We worked hard, and we did. And we've all been astounded at the blessings of faith and creativity in these children. 

 my puffer fish sample

I lost sleep trying to stay ahead of our needs. It has been a challenge to keep my thoughts straight with the schedule, the number of kids in each group, the change of craft as we cycle from younger to older. It's been a mad rush of activity for this grandma.

I don't know how to measure my love and appreciation for my helpers. I've made new friends and deepened relationships over the craziness and the creativity and the earnestness of each child. I feel so blessed to be part of this team.  

We made it through Friday, but only by God's grace. I feel that we gave our best, and I'm pleased. It seems somehow miraculous that through our simple work with markers and glue sticks, God stepped in and fed our hearts. 

I can't leave without a song to reflect my mood, so... here you go... I love these things...

I don't know if I'll have the energy to do this again, and I don't know how I can fully express my feelings about it. I only know I have been blessed beyond measure.

I wish you an uplifting and praiseworthy time this summer also. Feel free to share in the comments.  You can find more thoughts on this theme at Ruth's blog... click HERE. Thanks for hosting and for this interesting prompt, Ruth!