The Wisdom of Sandhill Cranes

The icy cold of the pre-dawn bites through my clothes. My mind strays to thoughts of my warm bed and hot coffee. I wish I could stamp my feet to stay warm, but I cannot. I and a dozen others wait in silence for the dawn. My eyes strain in the darkness, but I cannot see them. I know they are there, thousands of Sandhill Cranes have spent the night in the shallows of the river, not fifty feet away.

During the Spring migration, they gather on the Platte River in Nebraska, 400,000 strong, feeding and building their strength for weeks before they disperse to their family breeding grounds.

Shapes emerge from the darkness as the sun begins his ascent. We are suspended in that liminal time between day and night, perched on the threshold of a new day The Cranes long for the sun too. I can hear them chattering to each other in the gloom. As the light grows, the chorus rises, punctuated by individual cranes jumping into the air, eager to take flight, until it is a cacophony of sound and movement. Their anticipation is palpable. As the sunlight crests over the horizon, the birds begin to take flight, one family group after another, until the sky is full to overflowing with a graceful ballet of rushing wings.

Listen to the sound of thousands of Sandhill Cranes as they greet the new day.  What a joyful noise!

What if we could welcome each morning with such enthusiasm!  What do these lovely birds know that we do not?

They are not weighed down by worry about what the day will bring.

The cranes offer a simple wisdom for how we can live our life.  We can greet each day, grounded to earth, full of joy and gratitude, energized by sunlight and the possibility that lives at the beginning of a new day. We can raise our voice and jump for joy and awaken to the Life force that will lift us up and give wings to our Spirit.

Listen to the cranes with all your heart. What else can they teach you about how to live?

The blessings of crane wisdom and crane mornings to you,

Jan