Cranes and Pots

On a late afternoon walk, some hundreds of Sandhill Cranes grouped up and rode an invisible updraft above me. They looked chaotic and were really noisy as they spiraled upwards, but they sorted themselves again into V-shapes, drafting one another and magically headed the same direction all the flocks in the lead were going. We’ve had hot, dry fall weather for weeks—so unusual for this time of year. Those hundreds of cranes are heading south anyway, but I waited for some rain before firing my small kiln, Tu2, just a few days ago with a load of functional pottery. It’s cooling and I’ll unload tomorrow.