KeyWee's Blog

Picture it ~ a crisp December morning just before sunrise. The eastern sky tinged pink and gold, the winds still.   An out-of-the-way church parking lot in Marshall County Kentucky quickly fills with vehicles and groups gather here and there to murmur puffs of white breath into the silent morning.  It's a myriad of characters ~ mostly aging hippies like me, I suspect.   Eyes search the sky for signs of UltraLite planes.  Cameras and binoculars are at the ready.  Yes, after a half-hour wait ~ THERE!!!  On the northern horizon, three UltraLite planes, a guide plane, and the distinctive "V" formation of ...... but wait, thirteen cranes, there are supposed to be fourteen.  Ah, there he is ~ one straggler, following the last UltraLite like a small soaring tail light.  For a few seconds, stunned silence as everyone takes in the splendor of the scene, then cheers, applause, tears.

This is an Operation Migration flyover viewing ~ led by an organization that has taken on the mind-boggling responsibility of making certain that yet another endangered species does not disappear before its time.  There is so much more to this endeavor than meets the eye in a five-minute flyover.  If you take the time to view their website, you will see what a labor of love this truly is.  So much is involved that I will not write it out here in my blog, when they have done a beautiful job with the website. 

Certainly take the time to look at the field journal and see if you are on the migration path and can take the opportunity to view a flyover.  Trust me, I am not a crazed tree-hugger and have never heard of this organization until this week.  It is a truly memorable experience and puts a load of perspective on your life that you may not even have known was there. 

There weren't many dry eyes in that cornfield this morning, and none of us could quite explain that feeling.  For myself, I believe it was true happiness at seeing that kind of freedom and commitment up close.  Thank you, OM!

www.operationmigration.org