The Other Eight Are Folded

Two years ago I spent a night on the island of Miyajima in Japan. When I was checking out of my guesthouse in the morning I was given a token gift in the form of a plastic envelope with 10 sheets of fancy paper and instructions on how to fold them into origami cranes. I kept this little souvenir with me through the rest of the trip and ended up bringing it back to America when I left Japan. A month or so after returning from Japan I folded one origami crane but I don’t remember what I did with it. Some time later I folded a second crane and it’s still sitting on a desk near where I sit at my office. The remaining 8 sheets, however, were left to collect dust on my desk at home.

A few days ago I decided it was time to either fold the other cranes or just toss the paper, and I chose to fold them. I’ll be the first admit I don’t have an inherent talent for origami, as the cranes in the photo will testify. They’re rather amateurish in appearance but at least I can say that I finally folded those remaining cranes. Years ago I remember reading online somewhere that there’s an old Japanese tradition that says if you fold 1,000 paper cranes then you’ll get a wish granted. I guess I’ve got another 990 to go before I get that wish.