I think that the chapter “Meadowlarks” is important to the overall vision of the book because it connects a lot of different events together and continues to show off William’s softer side. She is excavating at the Anasazi State Park and making tangible discoveries alongside introspective discoveries. Also in this chapter, she is told that her mother has had a relapse of cancer and the chapter is about her trying to get home to her mother using whatever method of transportation she can find.
I think that the Meadowlark bird connects well with Williams because the meadowlark is both a cheery colour of yellow and a dark black. I think this represents her quite well because at times she is soft and happy (such as when she talks about loving others and her body being a vessel of love) and then other parts of her are dark and stormy and snappy. She has a soft side and a stormy side, just like the colours of a meadowlark. The meadowlark can also be a symbol of her family because they are a close family and love each other and are happy (yellow), but this relapse of cancer has created a dark spot in their family (black).
Although I’ve never seen one in person, I’ve always liked meadowlarks for their name. They are fascinating little birds. They come in two varieties: the Easter Meadowlark, and the Western Meadowlark. These two types often get confused for each other but are very different in the type of song that they sing. Meadowlarks are omnivores, and their main predators include skunks, foxes, hawks, coyotes, raccoons, and domestic cats and dogs. Meadowlarks lay eggs that are brown with purple splotches. I think this is fascinating because the Meadowlark seems to be a bird that has a lot of dualities which gives them more complexity than is typically assigned to birds. In this way, I think that Williams is very much like a Meadowlark.