Dancing with the Stars

I flew to Florida this morning for my sister's memorial service, arriving in Tampa 34 minutes ahead of schedule. The captain got a chuckle from the cabin when he announced, This is one thing you will not hear on the evening news broadcast: United Flight 1210 arrived at Tampa International Airport this morning 34 minutes ahead of schedule.

Driving home from the airport, we spotted these sandhill cranes my niece called the Catholic Cranes because they often hang out in a field next to a Catholic church in her neighborhood. Later that afternoon, we made a trip to the local Bed, Bath, and Beyond store to pick up some picture frames. Sure enough, they were still in the same field, so my niece wheeled into the parking lot and stopped where I had an unobstructed view of the cranes.

As my other niece quietly crawled out of the car intent on rounding up the birds and herding them toward the camera, I propped my Nikon on the window ledge and fired off quite a few shots. But apparently cranes don't understand the concepts of "rounding up" or "herding," and they continued to bimble around the field in a slow and graceful dance. Maybe they were practicing their routine for Dancing with the Stars? If so, they had the potential to be the winning couple.

I guess this goes to show that even when the heart is heavy, life can be filled with special moments. Humor is often a gift from God, and these cranes were both humorous and talented.