Flight Behavior

On shearing day, Dellarobia finds that her newfound feelings, assisted by her sharp tongue, are in full force. With five other ladies, she sits around the skirting table, waiting for the men to shear the sheep and pass the wool on to them. Hester, overly pious and “always dressed as if she might later be headed out to a square dance” (28), declares that the dry, comfortable day is a sign of God’s favor. Dellarobia mocks that attitude by saying that God must hate the Cook family, as their shearing day was not as fortuitous. Hester declares, “Something’s got into you miss, and it is not good. You’d do well to consult your maker on respecting your elders” (29).

Dellarobia is aware that after her vision in the valley of fir trees, she is less inclined to deal with Hester’s moral integrity and is “impatient with the pettiness of people’s everyday affairs” (29). She thinks that people are too self-important, “unaware the mountain behind them [is] aflame” (30). This includes the vacuous discussion that Valia Estep and her daughter, Crystal, engage in over the reality-television show Jackass.

Watching the sheep as they are brought in for sheering causes Dellarobia to compare humanity to the sheep’s “dumb helplessness,” though the sheep seem “cannier than the people” (31). While her children and Crystal’s children play in and outside the barn, Preston grabs a full white fleece and pretends to be a superhero. Despite Hester’s warnings, Preston tears the fleece apart, causing Hester to demand the children leave and forcing Dellarobia to babysit them all at home. Dellarobia considers how Cub became the man he is: by surviving childhood with the humorless and strict Hester.

At home, Dellarobia calls her best friend, Dovey, for help, but Dovey has been called into work. Dellarobia tries to express her vision to Dovey, saying, “I was blind, but now I see” (45). This statement confuses Dovey, as she knows Dellarobia is not particularly religious. When the women return home, Dellarobia leaves them with the children to see her husband in the barn. Cub tells her that his father is going to sell the land, including the valley, to loggers. He explains that they will cut the trees all the way down to the ground, and Dellarobia says, “They’ll make it look like a war zone […] a trash pile” (53). But Cub tells her it’s the only way for the family to make enough money to pay the bills and keep what’s left of the homestead afloat.

Dellarobia then tells Cub her secret about the miraculous vision in the valley. She encourages her recalcitrant and reluctant husband to stand up for what the family owns because it will belong to them when his father passes away. They get into an unexpected argument, with Dellarobia leaving the barn by telling him he should use his God-given feet to see the valley before it’s sold off to the highest bidder.

Spurred by Dellarobia’s comments, Cub convinces his family to take the ATV up the trail the next morning. There, they are amazed by the sight of “something taking over the world” (66). The fiery colors that Dellarobia saw were thousands of butterflies—so many that she feels engulfed by them. They fly around the family, hang in large clumps in the surrounding trees, and cover the pathway.

Cub argues with his parents that this sight is a miracle and that his wife had a vision about this sight. His father, Bear, states that they should all grab DDT and spray the butterflies with the poison. Again, Cub says no, and Hester agrees, saying, “This could be the Lord’s business” (75). Dellarobia is surprised that Cub stands up for her and what she saw. Butterflies fill the air between them all, Dellarobia becomes dizzy, and the family believes that she is receiving grace from God.

At church, Dellarobia drops off her children at Sunday school and goes into the Café in Christ bakery. Even though religion was imposed upon her through her marriage, Dellarobia is “not outside the believer realm entirely” (81). However, prayer failed her when her father and mother became ill, suffered, and died. As a lonely housewife and mother, the church could provide a social connection for her, but the fellowship does not fully accept her.

As Dellarobia enters the sanctuary to sit next to Cub, he holds her hand. She considers that she can make Cub happy but not herself and struggles with the idea that “she [is] cut out for something more” (83). As the service begins, Pastor Bobby informs the audience about how to acknowledge the sin in their hearts. Then he asks the audience to share what they love with God. Congregants call out names of people they love. Then, to Dellarobia’s shock, Cub stands up and tells the entire audience about the butterflies on the Turnbow property. He says that Dellarobia had a vision—that she “had this feeling something real major was going to happen on our property” (96). Even Hester has to agree with Cub to stay in Pastor Bobby’s good graces. As a result, Dellarobia is brought before the church as the group celebrates God’s hand in the vision. Suddenly, Dellarobia finds herself in the uncomfortable position of being popular: She is Sister Turnbow, the “new beacon” of the family.