A Crane in the Woods

For the past few months, every time that I am at the kitchen sink doing dishes (which is often), I look out the window above the sink and catch sight of a crane. Do you see it?

It's on a tree that's directly in my line of vision. Every day I think, "Wow, that really looks like a crane. I should go out and take a picture of it. I should get a closer look. I should tell Ethan or Zoey." etc, etc. I never went out to take a closer look, or took a picture or shared it with anyone.

It was just there.
I knew it was there.
I thought about it every morning.

I know that it's a tree. A tree where the bark is peeling away or has been scratched and pried away by some animal in the woods. I know this. But, I also know that for the past few months...it's been a crane. I see it, so clearly and did from the first day that I noticed it was there.

Today I went out into the woods and took a closer look. I took a picture of it. And shared it with Ethan and Zoey. Which...to my frustration, could not see the crane at all. They couldn't get past the logic (it being bark, peeled away from a tree).

For curiosity's sake, I looked up what the image of a crane and what the bird itself means and here is just some of what I found...

• Cranes are often regarded as messengers of the gods. An ancient Egyptian legend tells of a two-headed crane seen flying over the Nile to announce the start of a joyful and prosperous new season.
• Cranes are masters at killing snakes. In Christian symbolism, cranes are seen as natural enemies of Satan. Due to their long migration season, they also became a symbol of endurance and their wings were once used as talismans to aide weary travelers. The spring return of cranes is a symbol of Christ's resurrection.
• In Roman mythology, the crane was sacred to Demeter, the mother goddess. Demeter was said to renew the earth each spring when her daughter, Persephone, was released from the underworld.
• Cranes are associated with good luck in many Native American tribes. Native fishermen, especially, used to consider it a good omen to see a crane while fishing. In some Native American folklore, Crane plays the role of peacemaker. To the Anishinabe tribes, cranes represented leadership and skill at speaking, and the Cheyennes associated sandhill cranes with lightning. 

And here is even more on the meaning of cranes.

I'm choosing to continue to see the crane at the start of my every day. I am soothed by the thoughts of  the many possibilities of messages that it's trying to send my way.

XO,