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Show WASATCH When Wave Goodbye fully you can see them above the line Cranes to Christopher winds through the pass. Later, on our way home at twilight, deer will sneak down to the road looking for a drink and porcupines will waddle along, probably on their way to visit friends. Past the once-rushing river, now meandering slowly in early fall through cattle pastures and cottonwoods, a lone fisherman in high boots casts his line again, hoping the a bright day in late summer or early autumn, if you look care- TIMES the By OC: MOUNTAIN Natural Smart beckons that we hurry. The sandhills, she says, are coming. We must hurry to greet them. Down the lane, we scamper over the fence while the dogs scooch underneath. We skip of the mountain, lumbering along as though they were swimming rather than flying. They are looking for something, it would appear. Circling and gliding on crooked wings, long bills pointing the way through the sky with kite-tail legs trailing, they seem ungainly but somehow elegant just the same. The sandhill cranes are making their way back, back along the mountains to the quiet pastures that surround the house where Natural Nan lives. The ancient-looking birds visit the valley there twice each year to rest for several weeks during their journey north and then, again, south. And perhaps the fall is the more meaningful visit, maybe not, but when the sandhills wave goodbye to Natural Nan in autumn, the days will grow short quickly and frost will come to the high country and soon, On the outside of town stands the co-op, its grain silos looming as monuments in the valley. Hay is stacked almost to the rafters of the old rickety barns, waiting for the snowy winter when big workhorses will pull sleighs to bring feed to lonely herds. But tractors have yet to be put away, the last cutting of hay still to be put up. own past the church and a huddle of farm houses lay green fields, fields where the large cranes will gather for a while, resting up for fans. More distant sandhills lumber through the brilliant sky to take up the circle as well. They flap around and around, losing elevation, in a three-dimensional dance of sorts, settling in for a stay. The sandhills trumpet a salutation, a plaintive trill, hello Natural Nan. And with the afternoon growing into evening they come for the landing and a furious beating of wings lets them down on thin, outstretched legs. With light fading in the west, the winter. the remainder cranes appear as stately figures in silhouette standing in the pasture summer isn’t past Natural The road to Natural Nan’s house its end. of their long Nan welcomes along us and \ . fAt wih yi aa NY out into the sea large wings like Japanese oe But before they leave, will say a long goodbye. circle for a day or two, their numbers as the leaves the cranes They may gathering turn gold the mountainside. Natural Nan will run into the fields a last time and gaze upward. Goodbye, you cranes. on See you in the spring. And then they will slowly sail out them, pear. says her Nan. You expression might that guess there is something magic in them. When the sandhills leave, says Nan, they will take the sky with them in a sad departure. The sky will almost cease to exist except for a grayness that will deepen into winter. y Petis time propped up on pencil legs. They might be Englishmen preparing for tea. They bring a peacefulness with from sy Illustrations by Margaret for some of green alfalfa, the endless sky stretching out like a pane of stained glass. he cranes, it seems, have spotted Nan and now they begin to circle, batting trip. Nan of the valley until spring. one Gone morning. Gone until they reap- Nan will shuffle house with her hands back to the in her pockets and put on a sweater and listen to the quiet for a while. At some point, she will go to the window for a long look and then, almost under her breath she will say, they’re gone. @ Hudson When former NBA basketball great “Sweet” Kom stiches mirc omit duties at the Park City 367 WEST « SECOND SOUTH 363-7000 Council, © S.L.C. he heads to Fuggles for a slam dunk! PAGE 5 |