There are four baby bluebirds in my nestbox that should fledge very soon. They were sound asleep at noon today when I went out to take their picture to share with you. If you haven’t had the experience of being the happy owner of a bluebird nestbox that successfully fledges these brilliantly blue little gifts from God, then put it on your Lifelist to do so before you die. It will connect you to nature in the simplest of ways and bring out your strong maternal and paternal instincts. You will want to protect your nesting bluebirds from predators – and they do have them – English House Sparrows, snakes and raccoons, to name a few. They are helpless and they need us to supply them with safe housing – no there’s no tax credit, but housing bluebirds will take your mind off your general daily woes of “What’s the real estate market doing now?” and other various and sundry other mundane “problems” that tend to bog us down. 

Watching their parents feed them is a joy – and you think your job is hard! Be grateful you’re not a bird. You can spend a lot of time just sitting quietly and watching. When they fledge it’s even more fun trying to find them. Momma gets her little ones high up in the trees, but if you watch closely and follow Momma and Poppa you can see them bringing food to the babies often fairly well hidden on the higher tree branches. I remember getting my binoculars out one time and following them and found all five of the little ones that had fledged that time. I was so proud -- sniff, sniff.

Bluebirds can often nest three times in a season, so don’t forget to clean out the box after the babies have fledged. Mom won’t reuse the nest and if she builds on top of the first one, it puts her babies closer to harm’s way. Be a good bluebird landlord and enjoy them all summer long.  There’s a reason they are called the Bluebird of Happiness and they’re darned cute to boot!

 I just added a sunroom to my little home. Wow! What a space! It added about 180 square feet of living space and opens the house up immensely. I am not a fan of dark spaces – I love the light. The cats are totally confused. They know they are not supposed to go outside, but this room is outside....or, is it? Very funny to watch them. They creep into the room slowly and look around. “Hmmmm. I’m outside. But I’m not.” If I go near them they scoot back into the main house because they don’t believe they are supposed to be out there. It is quite funny to watch. Animals are so entertaining. 

This room is a gift to myself. I have never been this extravagant before. I am so magnanimous!  It’s a tad scary when I look at the bill which I know will come every month for 120 months. What have I done? But I have faith. This room was meant to be here. I’ll find a way to pay for it, God willing.

I got an email from a friend who turned me onto something (thanks, Tom) that I can’t stop thinking about and wanted to share with you! You may already know this, I did not. The Chinese symbol for “Crisis” is made up of two symbols – Danger and Opportunity.      As I reflect on the past three years that I have been in the real estate business while the market has taken a tumble (and, honestly, the last decade of my life!) I find that that symbol is very poignant. I love it that opportunity lies below danger rather than the other way around, because often, what lies beneath is of a stronger, more stable nature than that which lies above – which can be transitory and fleeting – like leaves on a tree. When the leaves die and fall, the tree does not – except when very old, but then again, UNDERNEATH that fallen tree is the opportunity for other things to reveal themselves.

 So, without going too much deeper into this philosophical stream, I just want to comment that the present “crisis” (or crises), that we have been bombarded with also presents more opportunities than one can imagine. It’s happened to me. It’s happened to you. And, it will happen again and again. Many times the opportunity is not that apparent. It takes time to sprout. But wait for it. It will show itself and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

In the faith I in which I was raised, I was told, “When God closes a door, He opens a window.” It’s Opportunity. It’s whether we choose to go to that window and look out. It’s whether we feel compelled to climb through the window to seek that opportunity.  Or, it may be that we sit and wait through the present crisis for opportunity to walk in and lead us out. Opportunity comes in many forms. Seeing opportunity in crisis takes practice and resolve. It gets easier each time.

Fear is the root of all evil, not money. The last year has been a very fearful time for many of us with the economy and personal crises. The media blasts us with the bad news constantly, but, I have to say, I now see people making the decision to stop focusing on the negative. They are throwing caution to the wind and moving forward in a more positive direction. They are seeing Opportunity.  The buzz is in the air. I like it.   I have heard that when you are fearful, you should read your money. Whenever you see a coin that has fallen on the ground, consider that Opportunity put it there to remind you to trust. Bend over, pick it up – one more opportunity to whittle your waist, one more opportunity to add to your “Greece Fund”, one more opportunity to help another, one more opportunity to be grateful. Those strategically placed coins always remind me to be present and re-ground myself. Now I pick them up and mentally list my opportunities.

Thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to reach out and send you my newsletter and mailings while I’ve been working in Real Estate. It has opened up so many more paths that I never could have imagined, brought so many new friends into my life – friends I never knew I needed. Opportunities galore! Have a lovely 2009 and watch for Opportunity. He knocks more than once!

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          GRATITUDE