Traveling Light

Paula Makaikis is ashamed of her marriage. Driven out of their bedroom by Roger's compulsive hoarding, she has spent the past ten years sleeping alone on her husband's ratty couch. Fearing the judgments of others, especially her opinionated Greek mother, Paula is unwilling to reveal to anyone the secrets of her home life - or how the man she loves appears to value his possessions more than his wife. She has focused her passion on an academic career, but lately, feeling distant and uninspired, Paula is more concerned with the robins landing on her office window ledge than with her hard-earned position at the university. Then a dog changes everything. Paula had never considered adopting a dog, but when a mutt named Fotis enters her life, he becomes a companion she can't live without. She takes an eight-week leave of absence and sets out on a road trip with Fotis in a brand-new Ford Escape. At a rest stop in northern Minnesota, she answers a help wanted ad for a wildlife rehabilitation centre. Soon Paula is holding an eagle in her hands; the experience changes her forever.