And now, for the rest of the story…

Besides wanting to see the cranes and taking a break from the road, there was another reason I stopped at the International Crane Foundation on Thursday.  Back about 8-10 years ago, my mother and I made a trip to the ICF and she purchased a hand-crafted crane ornament while we were there.  It hung for several years from the light fixture over the dining room table of my sticks and bricks in Kasson, MN.  When I hit the road five years ago, I hung it from the passenger’s front window sun visor.  It traveled many miles with me as a talisman of my taking flight.

Fast forward to Emma adopting me, and becoming my traveling companion.  She was only about 5 months old when she got dumped at the volunteer pads at Anahuac NWR, and still was into a little bit of chewing.  In my old rig, she’d hop up onto the large dashboard to watch the world go by while I was at work volunteering.  One day I came home to find the crane had somehow lost it legs.  Hmmm… I guess it was just too much of a temptation hanging there in front of her face.

Eventually over the next couple of years, the crane became more and more disheveled, and I had to throw it out.  I kind of missed the crane as it flew around on it’s string as I drove down the road.  So, what would the chances be that ICF would still have some of those cranes for sale?  I had to find out.

Amazingly, I found them still in stock.  They are made in China out of wheat, and assembled with tweezers individually.  Cranes are revered in the far East as harbingers of good luck.  Who doesn’t need good luck?

When I got home to the rig on Friday, I immediately hung my good luck crane where it belonged!  With my new rig, Emma can’t get on the dashboard, so it should be safe for many more years. 

I was at Robyn’s house today doing laundry, and she gave me some mail that had been delivered to her house.  In it was a package from my sister with a gift for my birthday.

She had read about my struggles with the license bureau in South Dakota after having forgotten to bring my passport with me. 

She had also given me a birthday card, and you’ve probably guessed that when you open the card the buxom Nordic Opera singer belts out a high C!  What a hoot!  I do need to point out, however, that my OLDER sister is 455 days older than me, and the opera singer would actually sing an entire aria for her. 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy