For the birds.

My friend Krafty1 loves whooping cranes. I know that Hostie has a personal affinity for cranes herself, as she absolutely loves the Japanese red-crowned crane. I personally am always interested in the plight of a fellow living creature. Because of Krafty1's and Hostie's mutual interest in cranes, I thought I would tell you what I dug up on the subject! (Yes, Hostie and Krafty1, I know you love me, you can thank me anytime with a nice helping of wheatgrass.)

A short blurb on the whooping crane: The whooping crane is a large endangered crane, and is the only crane species found solely in North America. This is the seventh year of whooping cranes being "taught" their migration route to Florida (see Krafty1's 2006 post on the subject). The entire 2006 group was lost last year due to a bad winter storm in Florida. That means that a lot is riding on this year's cranes--the entire species depends on them. To check out this years batch of youngsters and follow their progress, go to the Field Journal.

In Japan, cranes ("tsuru" in Japanese) have a long history in Japanese history, traditions, and legends. The Red-crowned Crane (also called the Japanese Crane, "tancho" in Japanese) is the second rarest crane in the world (only 1,700 -- 2,000 currently in the wild). At maturity, the crane is pure white with a red crest on its head. Interestingly, this crest becomes bright red when the crane becomes angry or excited! During the spring and summer months this crane lives in Siberia, where their eggs hatch, and then migrate in the fall to various countries throughout Asia, including Japan to spend the winter. The only exception to this is a flock that stays in Hokkaidō, Japan, all year long.

Japanese legend tells that this crane lives for 1,000 years. In Japanese tradition cranes stand for fidelity, peace, and long life. Crane motifs are used in Japanese weddings, wedding kimono, and Japanese wedding decorations as a symbol of fidelity, because cranes mate for life and are devoted to their partners throughout all of the seasons. Folded origami cranes are often placed at memorial parks, such as that in Hiroshima, to symbolize peace, and are given to someone who is ill to wish them a quick recovery. It is said that if you have a wish and you fold 1,000 paper cranes, your wish will then come true.

Such was the situation with little Sadako Sasaki, born in 1943. Sadako was two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. In 1955, at age 11, Sadako was diagnosed with Leukemia, contracted as a result of exposure to the radiation from the bomb. When she learned of the diagnosis, Sadako's best friend told her of the old Japanese legend about folding 1,000 paper cranes. Sadako immediately started folding paper cranes, and completed over 1,000 before she died on October 25, 1955 when she was twelve years old. Inspired by her example, her friends and classmates compiled a book of her letters and published it, and because of their vision and love for their friend, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in Hiroshima Peace Park in 1958. Cranes are sent by the millions each year from all over the world to the Children's Monument in Hiroshima's Peace Park.

Anybody is welcome to send cranes.

You can learn to fold your own crane:

Or if you would like detailed step by step instructions with pictures, see http://monkey.org/~aidan/origami/crane/.

Last year Krafty1 mentioned that she had picked up so yarn to use to design some "crane socks". She said that once she finished the design work she would post the info for ordering and that she would donate all funds to Operation Migration. Go give Krafty1 a shout out and tell her what a great idea this is. If you have any ideas for those socks I'm sure she would love to hear them! While we're waiting for those socks, you could always make yourself a pair of wings: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTallete.html

Me and my new whooping crane friends, Thelma and Louise