Sand Crane Secrets

I saw an unusual sight on my morning jaunt -- a lone sand crane walking across a yard. Unusual, you see, because sand cranes are rarely seen alone. And I had passed several, heads tucked beneath wings, just a few moments before only a block or two over. Had this one not been invited to the sleepfest? Was she the same one I had watched the day before flying away from the group as a larger, menacing crane chased after her?

The answers are sand crane secrets.

Here's another puzzler. Earlier this week, two sand cranes flew into our backyard. They paced on their long spindly legs from one corner to another, looking for a way to escape. "You flew in," I told them from the safety of the screened porch. "Fly back out." They looked at me, but didn't heed my advice. I went back in the house to tend to morning chores. A few minutes later, I heard the loud raucous honks. Close ones from the cranes in our yard and farther away ones answering. When I looked back outside, the cranes were gone. I imagine the farther away cranes had said the same thing I did. "You flew in. Fly back out."

My mistake was saying the words in English instead of sand crane.

Christmas and Cookout

This photo was taken the first week in January. That's our undecorated Christmas tree and our just-used grill.

One of the blessings of living in the Sunland!

A Jeremy Moment

The Scene: eating supper with Bethany, Justin, and Jeremy.

Bethany: I don't know why everyone thinks Jeremy looks like Justin. He has my ears, my eyes, my hair color.

Jeremy: Mommy, do you want your ears back?

Quote

We have been in God's thought from all eternity,

and in His creative love,

His attention never leaves us.

Attributed to Michael Quoist
From The Heart of a Mother is Love Perpetual Calendar
That sits right next to the monitor on my roll top desk*

Addiction

I have drunk the only Pepsi I allow myself this day. The heavy glass, sitting on a coaster to the right of my monitor, holds only unappealing watery soda and melting ice cubes. Will I avoid tossing fresh cubes from the freezer into the glass? Will I resist the temptation to open another twelve-ounce bottle? To pour the carbonated, bubbling, foamy beverage on top of and into the current dregs?

I will resist. I must resist.

The white and blue flexi-straw leans away from me.

The glass mocks me.

But I will not give in

. . . to my Precious (visualize Frodo's glaring stare in Mount Doom).

The Truth Is Out!

I've been keeping a secret from my daughters for about three weeks now. But when I called Bethany from my car just before pulling into her driveway, the truth came out!

When I say that I was calling Bethany from my car, I mean exactly that . . . I was calling her from the phone number assigned to my 2009 Pontiac Vibe by OnStar. As fun as it was to make a call, that's not my favorite feature of the Vibe. No, it has something even better than its own phone number. It has . . .

A SUNROOF!

Unraveling Threads

The tag clerk asked for a phone number and Nate gave his cell phone number instead of our home number

The title is in his name . . . and only his name.

The insurance clerk "moved" him from my car to his own vehicle.

He'll be getting his own E-pass account for the toll roads.


The threads that bind a child to his parents continue to unravel and today it unraveled into a long loose string of a new kind of freedom and responsibility.