Letter from Florida (4): New Friends
We noticed Mr. and Mrs. Crane walking by our house a couple of times a day and so one day we just went out and introduced ourselves. That’s the way you do it in a retirement village.
They’re a rather odd couple, really, but gentle and sweet. They both walk in this slow, loping walk, sort of dipping down as they go and planting each foot so delicately on the grass or street that you’d think the ground was hot. Both of them walk this way—I guess it’s true that couples who live together long enough start to imitate each other unconsciously. Also, they both have red hair though that must be a genetic thing, not something that happened by imitation.
In the morning when we take our walk around Lake Fox Village, they are usually out as well, standing by the lake--they have an unusual double-wide down by the lake, sort of round in shape, unlike most of the homes which are rectangular.
They don’t talk much, but when they do, we sit up and listen. It comes out sort of like a honk. And if they’re really agitated, they may start to run in an ungainly fashion and then, suddenly, they’re flying. It’s an amazing thing, this flying. In they air they are marvelously graceful and their legs, folded back behind them, created a beautiful pattern—like something designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
It’s a curious the way these Cranes who fly so effortlessly choose to walk most of the time. Perhaps it is because they are constantly foraging on the lawns of the houses—looking for grubs and insects, I suppose.
About three feet tall, these Sand Hill Cranes are wonderful neighbors and we are happy to call them our friends.
They’re a rather odd couple, really, but gentle and sweet. They both walk in this slow, loping walk, sort of dipping down as they go and planting each foot so delicately on the grass or street that you’d think the ground was hot. Both of them walk this way—I guess it’s true that couples who live together long enough start to imitate each other unconsciously. Also, they both have red hair though that must be a genetic thing, not something that happened by imitation.
In the morning when we take our walk around Lake Fox Village, they are usually out as well, standing by the lake--they have an unusual double-wide down by the lake, sort of round in shape, unlike most of the homes which are rectangular.
They don’t talk much, but when they do, we sit up and listen. It comes out sort of like a honk. And if they’re really agitated, they may start to run in an ungainly fashion and then, suddenly, they’re flying. It’s an amazing thing, this flying. In they air they are marvelously graceful and their legs, folded back behind them, created a beautiful pattern—like something designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
It’s a curious the way these Cranes who fly so effortlessly choose to walk most of the time. Perhaps it is because they are constantly foraging on the lawns of the houses—looking for grubs and insects, I suppose.
About three feet tall, these Sand Hill Cranes are wonderful neighbors and we are happy to call them our friends.
Actual cranes. I get it now.
ReplyDelete