When my friend had said that the trailer we stayed in last year wasn't available to us this year for our Crane Spotting trip, we decided not to go at all.
That never really felt right to me, though.... and then.... about 10 days ago, I saw a Facebook post that there were 28 Whooping Cranes, along with 37K Sandhill Cranes at the Salt Plains Wildlife Refuge that week.
I instantly changed my mind about not going, and we booked an Air BnB for last night.
The chance to see a Whooping crane in the wild was enough impetus to get me going!!
The plan was to go up Saturday, to check in at the property by 3:00, relax a little, then go to the refuge for sunset.
Well, fate changed those plans for us.
Dave had gone out to do an errand, and to grab us some lunch to bolt down before we were to leave....but while he was gone, I was outside watering the plants on the front porch, when a young African American man, who had been walking up our street, called out to me.
"Can I ask you a question? You seem really wise." I was taken aback, and thought, oh great, what's he going to try to sell me? I couldn't just dash into the house and lock the door, that would be totally rude... so I acknowledged him, and he walked up the driveway toward me.
He didn't really have a question that I could answer.... it was something about what do you do when the people you live with are terrible people?
And the next thing I knew, he was sitting on the ground, having a total mental health break down. He said they were talking to him about awful, "gross" things, and that he felt it in his body, and he couldn't get rid of it.
He was crying, and flailing his arms about, and yelling.... and I was, quite frankly, a little nervous.... but mostly, I just felt calm.
I sat on my front step, and listened to him, and talked to him.... and he just kept going on about how those people have this awful energy, and he can't get it out of his head or his body.
Fortunately, the neighbors who moved out have a friend helping get the house ready to rent, and she came out and saw what was happening.
She came over and sat down, too, and between the two of us, we got him to calm down, stop crying, and take some deep breaths.
After a few minutes, we just talked amongst ourselves as though nothing weird had just happened....him, still sitting in the middle of my driveway, drinking out of his water bottle.
She had to go get ready for work, though, so she said, "do you have my number?"
We'd only met once, and never talked to each other before, so I obviously didn't have her number...but...I said "no, I don't think so, let me go get my phone..." which gave me the perfect opportunity to text Dave and tell him to COME HOME NOW PLEASE.
I think that might have been her motive...but now, I have a new friend, too! I was so grateful that she came along.... I was doing okay just being with him, but there was definitely some potential for volatility before we were able to get him calmed down.
My neighbor to the west was outside in his front yard, too, so if anything had gotten really bad, I would have yelled for him.
Anyway, she had to leave, and the young man and I continued to just chat while I knew Dave was making a bee line for the house. I tried to find out where he was living, but he said "I just live everywhere...wherever this vessel is," indicating his body.
Dave arrived, and pulled into the driveway, but the young man didn't move, so Dave parked down at the end and got out.
I smiled at him, and said hi, and said to my visitor that this was my husband. He then got up off of the ground, and asked if he could shake Dave's hand. He told DAVE that his name was Michael.
Dave offered a fist bump instead.
Our names were not offered to Michael.
The three of us talked a little more... I told Dave that Michael was having a hard time with the people he lived with, and that he had just needed to talk.
Dave said something like, "Well, we have some stuff we need to do," and while I refilled Michael's water bottle, he gathered up his jacket, and the dvds he was carrying. I brought the water bottle out, and he just walked off again.
Dave and I went inside, and THEN I melted down.
I've never had a complete stranger have a mental health crisis in my freaking driveway when I was home alone before, after all.
I'm pretty sure that Michael is mentally ill, and possibly homeless, or at least in a group home. I really felt badly for him, but he seemed to be very sweet at heart, and ultimately harmless.
He just wanted to talk to someone, and he thought I looked wise.
Must be my grey hair. HAH!
ANYWAY.... Dave got my text before he got our lunch, so after I calmed down, and we ascertained that Michael was truly out of the area, I returned to packing for the overnight trip, and Dave went back out to get that lunch.
SO, we were delayed by about an hour.
The weather was perfect, and, though we got up to the area later than intended, we still made it out to the refuge before sunset. There was just no relaxation time in between checking in at the property and going out to see the cranes.
Our hostess was a really sweet young woman, and her husband and baby were there, too. She even provided us with a special local beer that was named after the wildlife refuge.
We got out there at the perfect time. There was another person there, whose name was Tina, and she was a wonderful person! She is retired, and lives in her camper, which she takes all around the country...right now, following crane flocks! She was so friendly, and helpful! I wished that she would stay there with us, but she left before we did.
Sadly, we THOUGHT that we might have heard at least one or two Whooping cranes, but we never saw them.
I got some absolutely stunning pictures of the sunset, and some good video sounds of the cranes coming in to land for the night.
We left as it was getting almost too dark to see the trail, and we were the only humans there.
There were two great horned owls hooting in the woods as we left, and as we were driving out of the refuge, we saw several deer. My heart was SO FULL!!
Next order of business was to drive over to Enid to find some dinner. That was about an hour away, and we ended up at Chili's.
They have SURPRISINGLY great steaks! I had a craving for steak and potatoes, and was very happy with my dinner!
We finally made it back to our Air BnB at about 8:30 pm, along pitch dark roads in the country. There was another great horned owl, hooting outside of our place.
The property is a newly converted metal workshop type building, lined with antlered deer skulls. That sort of freaked me out at first, but I did a little Priestessing, and felt a lot better.
It's possible that we were among the first guests to stay in this property, because it sure seemed that everything was BRAND new. The coffee tasted like plastic, and the toaster had never been used before...and the towels even left us coated with lint when we showered, HAHA!
We settled down on the really luxurious couch with some of that special beer, and watched a movie before finally going to bed at almost midnight. Actually, Dave fell asleep on the couch, and I crawled into the bed.
The alarm was set for 6 am, with the plan being to return to the refuge for the full impact of the full flock being in residence. Sunrise is supposed to be when the most birds are present.
I slept a little, but not very much, but we got up, made coffee, ate the breakfast we had brought along (Air BnB properties RARELY provide the "second B"), cleaned up, and got out before 7 am.
The sunrise was really pretty, but it was while we were in the car, and it was not nearly as spectacular as the sunset the night before, so I didn't get any pictures of it.
When we arrived at the refuge, and got out of the car, the sound was astonishing. I had NEVER heard that many cranes all in one place ever in my life-long pursuit of "crane spotting." I was SO excited, I headed down the trail even though Dave wasn't ready for the hike yet.
He eventually caught up with me, and we stayed for about an hour and a half, until we were pretty much frozen through! It was in the upper 30's out, and clear.
Big flocks were coming and going, and flying RIGHT over our heads.
My videos of the cranes were not so much for what we could see, though, as for what we could HEAR. Tens of thousands of cranes...all in one place. It was magical, and powerful, and I was SO happy and excited!
Again, no Whooping cranes. They continue to elude me!!
I could easily still be standing there, but we were cold, and what little we brought to eat was already burned off from being there in the cold for so long, so, hesitantly (on my part), we left.
Back over to Enid for an IHOP breakfast, which we ate with great gusto, and now we're home.
I need a nap!!
What a wonderful Crane Spotting adventure this one was. Truly, my best one yet, with the most beautiful sunset, and the most populated morning view.
I am content.
Have a good week!
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