When Patterns Break (and the Cranes Still Dance)

A meditation on patterns. Some anchor; some entangle. I think of the sandhill cranes, these tall gangly birds that startle me each time I catch a glimpse of one. I once watched a pair dance and could hardly breathe for the beauty of it. When my world feels a bit untethered, these magnificent birds still dance. They gather to migrate, they take to the skies in their great flocks season by season and make a tremendous chorus. And they will return again.