Crane in Grass

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I always feel like I know an animal better once I've done a paper cutting of it. With as many cranes as I've done, I'm starting to feel like they're old friends! Most of my cranes have been based on photos I took of the whooping cranes at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Walking through grasses, wading and reflected in the water, they always create remarkable silhouettes (and sometimes, with a feather or two astray, downright silly ones!)

Every time I do a paper cutting of a bird, I can't help but think of Silhouette of a Sparrow. When I first read it, I knew nothing about it, and that's the way I like to read new-to-me books. Set in Minnesota in the 1920's, featuring paper cuttings of birds and a coming-of-age story: it's like the book was written to fulfill a checklist of things I adore. It's beautiful, and I'm overdue for a reread.