Chapters 14-20

Chapter 14 Land Trouble begins



Chapter 15 The Irish Channel


Chapter 16 Crevasse!

There really was a levee break near New Orleans on May 4, 1849. It happened on the east bank of the Mississippi River at a place called Sauve's Plantation. (The area is today called River Ridge.) This levee break flooded much of the city within days and was considered one of New Orleans' "worst floods" until Hurricane Katrina. I learned much about this 1849 flood from reading microfilmed newspapers at the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library.

Chapter 17 "Spring of the Year"

Chapter 18 The Breaking Point
An excerpt from Chapter 18 when Joseph, now alone, sadly leaves the crevasse work site:

The land on both sides of the Shell Road was underwater and in some places, it flowed over the road. Joseph followed the road toward Lake Ponchartrain. He didn’t have a definite destination in mind—he just wanted to get away from the river and the flooded city.

After five miles of walking, he reached the end of the road at a spot on the Lake called West End. It was now nearing dark and the lakefront seemed empty. Fishing boats bobbed up and down at the pier. Overhead sea gulls called as they dove for fish. The Ponchartrain, a brackish lake, still had enough salt water in it to emit that ocean-like smell Joseph knew so well. All of this, coupled with the shock of Mayo’s death, combined to create an acute sense of homesickness in Joseph’s soul.

He temporarily forgot the hardships he’d left behind in Ireland. He chose not to remember how all of his family, save a sister, was gone from his home island. He just knew he wished to get on a boat and get as far from here as possible, to just go back home to Ireland seemed a plausible wish.

For hours, he sat on the rock seawall at the pier and looked out over the lake. Darkness came and a full moon rose on the east shore of Lake Ponchartrain. It was beautiful as well as majestic, but it only saddened him. The stars shone in the clear sky, but Joseph, absorbed deep in thought, didn’t seem to even notice. Out on the lake, lanterns twinkled from nighttime fisherman.

He sat there all night in one spot watching that full moon, reflected in the lake, make its arc across the sky. Joseph’s mind was a fog of sorrow, confusion, anger, and hurt. He tried to pray, but the words seem to fall out of his mouth and roll down the rocks into Lake Ponchartrain.

Much of the imagery for this passage comes from the fine song, "Heart of the Night" by the group Poco. It is a song about New Orleans with the following lyrics:

"In the heart of the night, in the cool Southern rain,
There's a full moon tonight, shining down on the Ponchartrain.
The river she rises just like she used to do
She's so full of surprises, she reminds me of you."

It's a beautiful song that tells of lost love, memories and for me, fits the mood of Joseph on the saddest night of loss for him. To read the entire lyrics and learn more about the song, click on
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/poco-heart-of-the-night-lyrics.html


Chapter 19 The Cardinal
the beginning of Chapter 19

The cardinal just would not shut up! Each morning it woke Eliza up with its singing in the maple tree by her window. She called it her “personal alarm clock.” Its shrill whistling “what cheer-what cheer” song was beautiful to hear. Her dad laughingly said he was going to pepper it with birdshot and shut it up.

Long before the other birds of the woods began their day, this redbird was already into its third verse. Some of the Ten Milers said the cardinal’s “what cheer” song was really saying, “Wake up boys—wake up.” Either way, the sound usually began Eliza’s day. She had never had the many things a city person might have: fancy clocks, jewelry, or photographs of herself and her family. She’d never even held a compass in her hand. She would have scoffed at the need for one. She knew the woods and swamps she lived in as well as anyone. Like the cardinal outside her window, her world was not very large, but it was her home and she knew it intimately.

Like the cardinal, Eliza was settled. Unlike many of the birds of the Louisiana woods, the cardinal never left or migrated. It chose to spend its life year-round in the temperate climate of the south, living close to the land and trees where it had been born. When one is settled and happy in the land you inhabit, you do not feel the urge to wander.

Author's Notes
I've a lifetime in the Louisiana Piney Woods with the Northern Cardinal, or "Redbird" as my year-round neighbor and friend. Recently, my South Dakota friend and fellow birder, Stan Bricker, visited Dry Creek. He was amazed at the beauty of our Cardinal, having never seen one. I was reminded of how we take for granted anything we have that is common. A beautiful blazing red bird with a fiesty personality and great song is a blessing!

The Cardinal in Chapter 19 signifies the rootedness of this non-migratory bird and its relation to Eliza Clark, who has never traveled far from her Ten Mile home.



Chapter 20 Upriver!