Sandhill Cranes

I live in central Florida where birds are abundant and the weather usually pleasant. Yesterday on my pre-dawn bike ride, I passed a lot adjoining the gold course and there were four sand cranes feeding in the early morning dew.  Bright red heads like huge majestic woodpeckers loomed gracefully over an unsuspecting bug or frog and in an instant its long beak snatched up the morsel and swallowed it down.  I slowed my pace to watch the others doing much the same, a family unit no doubt.  As I drove off, I heard the familiar cackling call coming from behind in an imaginary farewell.

Pedaling a bit further, another small band of these majestic creatures strolled across the road no doubt en-route to a more favorable grazing area.  The golf course is a favorite hangout for these huge birds and I have seen as many as 10 gather at once at times in the past.  I suspected that these six were now heading off to join the four I had just passed.

Zooming around another turn and up a slight hill, I passed seven more of these long-legged lanky creatures, heads bobbing up and down and eyes fixed firmly on mine.  Their burnt-yellow beaks are almost as long as their spindly legs and their feathers mostly gray have an occasional streak of white and black.  The wingspan is something to behold as they glide almost silently through the air.  They are some amazing birds almost too big to think of them as such.

Morning rides help me slow down my mind and let me appreciate the creatures with which I share this planet.  All of us co-mingle here and all of us are important each offering something unique for another.  Animals teach us lessons about life; all you have to do is pay attention.  These huge birds, for example, demonstrate the importance of community and getting along.  Despite their differences, they understand that together they are more than they are alone and the smallest of them is looked after by those bigger.  Each is teaching and learning from the other and all thrive as a result.  There is peace and harmony in watching such perfection unfold and lessons for the rest of us to learn from their examples.

Have you slowed down enough today to watch and listen? Click here to listen.

Yours for higher fidelity,
Philip Rastocny

I do not use ads in this blog to help support my efforts. If you like what you are reading, please remember to reciprocate, My newest title is called Where, oh Where did the Star of Bethlehem Go? It’s an astronomer’s look at what this celestial object may have been, who the "Wise Men" were, and where they came from. Written in an investigative journalism style, it targets one star that has never been considered before and builds a solid case for its candidacy.

My other titles include:

• Althea: A Story of Love
• Build an Extreme Green Composter
• The Extreem Green Guide to Wind Turbines
• Build and Extreme Green Hot Water Solar Collector
• The Extreme Green Guide to Solar Electricity
• The Extreme Green Guide to Improving Mileage
• Meditation for Geeks (and other left-brained people)
• Build an Extreme Green Raised Bed Garden
• Build an Extreme Green Rain Barrel
• Build an Extreme Green Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder
• Extreme Audio 1: House Wiring
• Extreme Audio 2: Line Filtering
• Extreme Audio 3: Chassis Leakage
• Extreme Audio 4: Interconnect Cables
• Extreme Audio 5: Speaker Wires
• Extreme Green Organic Gardening
• Extreme Green Organic Gardening 2012
• The Extreme Green Appliance Buying Guide

 Copyright © 2015 by Philip Rastocny. All rights reserved.