By Doreen Richardson
Welcome, fellow John Knox Village Residents! My name is Sandy H. Crane. My partner for life, Sammy H. Crane, and I have been residents here for many years. Actually, we are second-generation cranes, I mean residents, as my parents lived on our beautiful campus before we were born.
We have the privilege of leisurely strolling through our pristine grounds with our newest generation of colts, I mean babies, Sally and Sonny. Please allow me to introduce ourselves as we appear to be a bit different than your typical JKV Residents.
Although most of JKV Residents are of a certain, ummm, vintage, they have bent the rules a tad for us as we only live about 20 years in the wild, although our species is among the oldest living birds, I mean residents, on the planet.
We apologize for being a bit of a loud family, as our calls may be heard up to a half a mile away. Our “kids” mature at about two years of age and while they are involved in many of JKV’s splendid activities, we may soon enroll them in one of JKV’s famous dance groups as they “dance” when they are looking for, shall we say, companionship.
Here at JKV, we are spoiled with many fabulous dining venues, but we prefer to eat corn, seeds, grains, berries, insects, earthworms, mice, snakes, lizards, frogs, and crayfish, but no matter how many times we request Chef to put these on the menu, they are few and far between. Did you know that it is illegal in Florida to feed us? Thank heaven for meal plans!
Our habitat, I mean our garden cottage, is usually a small, marshy area, but considering we have a wingspan of between 5 – 7 feet, we appreciate our lush outdoor surroundings. We tend to take lots of naps and you’ll usually see us standing with our heads tucked under a shoulder. We greatly appreciate the respect our fellow residents show us by not chasing us or driving too fast past us. We are relatively civilized folks, but if you scare us, or try to tempt us with tasty morsels, or taunt our grandkids, we have been known to, ummm, attack, so please, give us a friendly JKV wave, and let us be on our way.