I Have a Theory

I have a theory. It's quite strange and based solely on this idea in my mind. You know how you sometimes don't notice things, even though they're right there? And then someone points it out and all of a sudden it's everywhere? Recently we thought about getting a new car. I saw a Kia I thought was really neat and then, all of a sudden, they were everywhere. (side note, no new car, same 'ol little zippy car I love).

When my brother and sister-in-law (B & Y) got married they had a lot of cranes to symbolize making a wish come true. This is according to Wikipedia: "An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years. In Japan, it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a person's wish come true. This makes them popular gifts for special friends and family." (She is Japanese)

B & Y had one of those amazing thousand crane things hanging at the reception. Since then, I've become hyper aware of them. So much so that I feel they symbolize good luck, or *hope*, for me.

I'm quite sure, too, that before their wedding, there were not a lot of cranes, or heron, flying around our area. I remember seeing one as a child, standing in a ditch near an intersection, and hearing my parents make a big deal out of it.

So when I started seeing them more frequently, I took it as a sign. A good luck sign for our family. Even more powerful for me was the fact that I didn't start noticing them until we really decided to start our family. This was two years after B & Y's marriage...

So let's fast forward a bit and add in another quick tidbit-I hope I don't confuse. I see these cranes every so often; usually they are flying across an interstate as I drive. They give me hope. For the Fourth of July weekend we went to the hubs' buddy's cabin. While we were pontoon-ing down a river we had two cranes fly right in front of us. They were still a distance away but the closest I had actually come to them.

They are beautiful and graceful creatures. Quite stunning to watch. They gave me butterflies as I was in the midst of the two week wait.

This past week I was working at a local university teaching at a writing camp. One of our activities is to go feed the ducks along the river (sounds strange, but you get some great duck stories!). Just as I was tucking the bread wrapper back in my bag I noticed something that seemed out of place. There in front of me, about 20 feet was a crane. Never before had I seen one this closely.

I quickly and carefully grabbed my camera and slowly walked nearer to snap a shot. I looked down to turn the camera on, and in that instant, it flew further away.
The only thing I could think was it was telling me we were close, so close, but not yet.
When I got home that night, I learned that we were not pregnant. I did a little begging and pleading but in the end, I knew.

But I really think there's something to this whole crane theory for me. It's probably just a bunch of malarky to anyone else. But I may be secretly starting my own collection. If you see one around, think of me-I bet it counts too.
One down, nine hundred ninety nine to go.