Callie Mae
I am Callie Mae Sullivan, and I have made my decision about
my adventure. I will become an Exoduster. I will travel by train and steamboat
to Kansas to look for my brothers. Together we will homestead and get free land.
I have a little money Granny left me to get tickets and a passage north. Pap
Singleton is taking some former slaves to Kansas. Do you think if I dress as a
boy, he will take me, too?
Granny always said I would have a big adventure, and this
could be it. You will read more about my trip and life in Kansas in our writing
project.
A Quiet Adventure
I suspect most young girls are like Callie Mae, wanting adventure
in their lives. Some never outgrow adventure. Several years ago I spent two
days traveling on the Mississippi River on a riverboat. I took a couple of
books to read and several notebooks and pens. I planned to catch up on my
reading and to “organize my life” by writing numerous lists of things to
accomplish in the future. Thirty minutes into the trip I set aside my books and
notebooks. I did not read one chapter or make one list. Written words are often
beautiful and some come from God, but the beauty of the nature He created, I
could not miss.
At times during the trip there were no signs of civilization on
either bank of the river. The landscape looked as it must have looked when
first viewed by men. My trip held no adventures as exciting as Callie Mae’s on
the river, and I did not have to chop wood to fuel the engine or worry about
food to eat. Yet, it was an unexpected adventure into the quiet world of the
beauty God created.
