I just finished reading a young adult book called Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech. In the book, Zinnia Taylor, the thirteen-year-old main character, struggles to deal with the death of a young cousin and years later, that of a favorite aunt. Along the way, she rediscovers an historic trail that winds from her home to a neighboring town and she spends a summer trying to excavate and restore it. The title of the book comes from her uncle's constant search through the fields and woods surrounding his home for his dead wife and for Zinnia's personal search as exhibited by her quest to unearth this trail. Her aunt wasn't a bird of course, but she did have red hair.
This past week, I was on vacation from work and I spent that time running, eating too much, and trying to sort out issues in my life. Along the way, I also rediscovered a few historic sites. First, I found pillars that are all that remain from an Onondaga Lake resort, an abandoned Erie Canal lock, and the remains of Syracuse's first airport.
Funny, but I started this book during my vacation and unbeknownst to me my life has somewhat paralleled the story. 2009 was a year of tremendous change and personal challenge for me and that was even before Tammie became sick and passed away. This blog has helped me to chase my own "redbird" and I am afraid that I have a long way to go before I catch her.
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