Half A Thousand Origami Cranes

The crane, like the dragon, is a kind of mystical creature in Japanese lore, and there is special significance to folding one thousand of them from paper. Depending on which legend you believe, 1000 paper cranes will get you either a wish granted by the gods or a lifetime of happiness and/or good luck. Some think they all need to be strung together in a garland.

A bride or a newborn baby might be given 1000 paper cranes as a wish for their future, and people will also hang them in their homes as a kind of talisman. It is also sometimes said that these 1000 cranes have to be folded all in one year to be effective.

I’ve been folding paper for a number of years, but I found the crane difficult. About a year ago, I decided that any origamist worth his or her salt ought to be able to fold a decent crane, so I started practicing, and they started to turn out pretty well. I used various types and sizes and colors and prints of paper and scattered them all around the house in places where my wife would find them (stuck in the frame of  the bathroom mirror, in the seat of her recliner, on top of the toaster). She thought they were so pretty and wonderful she actually said to me, “You can leave those all over the house if you want to.”

She has never said whether she regrets saying that.  In any case, I began folding more cranes with an aim to making it to 1000. Unfortunately, I didn’t get them done in a year, but I am halfway there. I folded my 500th crane yesterday. Since I thought it should be special, I made it a gold one.

There are still cranes all around the house in baskets and on shelves, but most of them are in my office in big glass jars. Empty jars await the next 500, and if I can get them done before another year goes by, maybe the gods will grant me half a wish.