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Natural Space… You Can Hear Yourself Think In Maine.

Maine, Sit A Spell, You Can Catch Up, Spend Some Time With You.

Wouldn’t you agree most people are well intentioned, want to get along in life relationships?

But tolerance to others not like you. Concessions, pulling back and surrender is a life long exercise to grow, expand and broaden your outlook on what happens around you. And how you react to it. Some folks feel threatened when others don’t look at situations, issues, other people or religions the same way.

If you are secure in who you are, what you believe, accepting other viewpoints is not so difficult.

It’s healthy. Means you don’t stagnant or become a stick in the mud. Stuck in a rut that can rob from you if you don’t open your eyes, ears, heart and mind to consider another way of looking at the world around you. And the people surrounding you in life’s fish bowl. It removes the need for a lot of the defensive barriers that limit our relationships too.

And changing your mind comes easier. Is okay as others challenge what earlier you might have clung to dearly as gospel. And the need to automatically challenge them, not let it go. The ability to stay flexible and consider have you ever looked at it this way, a new way instead. Can open doors wide, create clear pathways to other limitations we inflict on ourselves that make us scared, stationary. Taste, feel, embrace life, don’t waste it.

And as much as you and I are fifity fifty, evie stevie our Moms and Dads in the DNA department, we don’t have to only stock our cupboards with just what we were taught through conditioning growing up.

There is plenty of extra room to add our own outlook on life and to modified or totally change the belief system we adopt to guide us through our short time passage on Earth. To add greater meaning, depth and avoid being a clone. Or just treading water with only surface living when life can be so much richer.

You and I are different. Not deficient, just approaching life from some of the same angles, a few that are not radical but not the same either.

Agreeing to disagree.

Because finding someone that is a carbon copy would be boring and needle in the haystack futile. It’s okay to criticize and tear down the old ways of thinking and beliefs we may have carried around in life up until today. And it is critical to find unity in relationships, marriage for them to survive, prosper and go to deeper more meaningful levels.

So the best is yet to come situations do show up right on schedule. Often the change of one viewpoint leads to revamping others we used to hold near and dear. Why not? See what you were missing courageously. Lose the insecurities that sap your inner peace but maybe that you just did not recognize. Or one by one take the time to examine. Maine gives you the outdoor space to hear yourself think. To consider other ways to lead your life or determine that you are on the right track in this, this and that department.

So work is involved in accepting new ways to look at situations. Some decide they are too busy, now is not a good time. Spending time in Maine will change all that. Maine people decide it is easier to keep it black and white simple living. And not to automatically hold, cling to all the truth’s maybe their parents instilled. But why not together hammer out and explore joint solutions to find common ground for the peace everyone desperately seeks in relationships? And without guilt that you don’t hold all the same viewpoints or approaches to life your parents did in an earlier generation.

Maine, Hear Others, Yourself Think Easier.

You can still keep loving someone but not agree with them on every point on every issue.

Diversity and yes, our own individual idiosyncrasies are the color that make it more than black, white, shades of gray bland, predictable, ho hum. Discover who you are together with folks you trust, enjoy, respect around you that Maine is full of. Down to Earth, what you see if what you get. Who they are without the games, spin, insecurity. Lose the uneasy insecure, vulnerable feeling in Maine.

Maine, less people, no pushing shoving hurry scurry. A place to relax, hear yourself think because it’s four season gorgeous. Less populated. Not wall to wall people to deal with or avoid. Find your space, your place in Maine.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

May 26, 2012
Maine Loons | What Those Shrill Haunting Cries Mean.

Maine Loons, What Do The Songs, Cries, Shrill Sounds All Mean?

The ME Loon.

The song, cries, sad sound of one or several Maine loons hit you deeply when you are parked on the Maine water.

More so than birds singing, chirping on a morning walk or while on your knees in the garden.

How come?

What’s up with that?

Is it because you are often on a Maine vacation when you spend time with loons in the background of fun times?

Or up close paddling by in a kayak or canoe? Or as they float by fishing?

Part of it is the echo across the water and that most Maine lakes are pristine, under developed if at all. So the ring of trees along the lake put you in the speaker. Up close and personal surround sound from all sides intense. And those same trees protect the Maine lake, river, pond from soil erosion.

If the frontage was crew cutted, had not Maine shoreland zoning law protections then development would cause silt, dirt to filter in to the water. Which hurts fish, loons, everything that depends on the waterfront to survive. Listen to this loon sound clip and see what it does inside you. Powerful huh? How come? Sadness that all can relate to at some low point in our lives? Or just a minor chord arrangment that is it’s own form of blues music? Or maybe because you are away from the work distraction, you can really listen, hear, feel the emotion of the loon sound. Because it is all there is, the loon has the solo. Gets your attention and keeps it as your heart gets grabbed.

But back to what are the loons communicating, trying to tell us, or saying to other loons as you listen in on nature’s party line.

Maybe it takes immersion around a Maine loon habitat to begin to figure it all out. Not just a long weekend, week’s vacation in Maine on the waterfront. Like Lt. John Dunbar in Dancing With Wolves to really learn the local lingo, customs, traditions, values of another culture.

Perhaps the many loon sounds and what they mean is not as important as how their sound affects you because of where you are in your life. Or what you are thinking about on your vacation away from work. So that it all boils down to a different reaction to a Maine loon sound, no matter which one of the many because of where your head and heart are at the particular time you experience it.

Or quite possibly you think of yourself as the loon.

Out on the lake at night, alone, no mate. Maybe the mate died, did not make it back from where it wintered. Or was hit by a boat. Eaten by a predator.

Or the lone cry of the loon you hear is just trying to get the attention of a mate because nesting season is coming, time is short. And he or she is brand new to dating. And is programmed for survival, propagation of the loon population. To not be alone. Or when all the loons on the lake, pond, river where you are being entertained open up all at once, it’s like the finale of 4th of July fireworks.

Will have to get back to you on what each of the three Maine loon individual sounds mean, represent. Considerably more time and study or an interview with a few loons from the vantage point needed to break the mystery, crack the call code. Maybe it is not the sad mournful sound we hear to another loon at all.

Some of the Maine loon calls could really mean “party at my cove, bring your cribbage board and some avocado dip”. Or “how are the wife, hubby and kids, was winter enjoyable and where did you go again?”. Just loon banter we totally react to wrongly like a lot of communication, texts, tone and misread conversation attitudes because of our own up or down mood at the time received in life.

All I do know is the more time you spend with Maine loons in the background, they have an affect on the waterfront experience.

They help make it. Round it out because it is not just the four season Maine scenery we enjoy with our eyes. It’s a full, all five sense powerful hit you hard, that makes it over the top special. Maine, get here to sample ME as often as you can through out your life to get the most out of it. Make never fade lasting memories in Vacationland.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

May 25, 2012
Maine Lake Loons Steal The Waterfront Show.

Maine Lake Loons, Protect Them, Enjoy Their Music On The Waterfront.

You must be in ME, less folks, more wildlife, loons.

The entertainment when you are lucky enough to visit or live full time in Vacationland is the Maine wildlife. Like Maine lake loons. Bigger than they look from across a pond or lake. Paddling closer with a kayak or canoe helps you realize how beautiful, large they really are.

There are three kinds of Maine loons.

The Common Loon that nest in Maine ponds and lake. Spend winters in open bays. They are built kind of funny. With long feet very far back to make them super swimmers, able to maneuver quickly when “fishing”. But with their long bodies, you won’t be seeing them in any land marathons. Not the greatest at walking due to their design.

The Pacific Loon hang out along the Maine coast fall and winter. Have black back, darker coloring around their eyes and a straight bill. Start their families in northwestern Alaska and Canada. Shorter necked and looking a lot like the last kind of Maine loons.

The Red-throated. You’ll see them make appearances in the fall along the rugged, rocky Maine coast line. More compact, slender than the Common Loon. The distinctive red throat patch, gray head with shorter neck round out the trio of loons you’ll enjoy in Maine.

The loons breed on Maine lakes, rivers, ponds. On Drews Lake, there are four islands that loons seem to enjoy nesting at. Plus the fishing grounds at the far western end of the lake, in the township of Oakfield Maine is a safe, less traffic boating area where they can live in peace. Friends Jimmy and Louann Ritchie are lucky to witness the actual mating, nesting of loons from their protected cove on Drews Lake.

Maine Loon And Eagle Compete For Fish Lunch Video.

Due to not being so hot, skilled at walking around on land, Maine loons like to nest at the water’s edge with steep drop offs.

So they can easily slide in to the water when it is time to go looking for a meal of fish. Or to teach their young how to swim. Floating vegetation mats and locations on the waterfront protected from strong winds or wave action are also prime neighborhoods for Maine loons.

The cleaner the Maine lake, the better the visibility for loons to fish as they peer underwater. Now you see them, now you don’t for long periods happens as the Maine loon dives for its fresh as possible lunch. The menu for Maine loons include saltwater, freshwater fishes. But also frogs, newts, snails, insects, insect larvae, crayfish, crabs, shrimp, amphipods, and even lobsters.

Wendell Harvey told me this morning that on Little Pleasant Lake in northern Maine while on a fishing trip he was entertained by “circus” loons.

Ones trained by sporting camp owner Matt Libby of Ashland Maine to do figure eights around, under the fishing boat for a snack.

Maine’s adult loon population is growing but the number of loon chicks has flat lined. And no one is really sure why. But everyone agrees the bird that shows up on every Maine conservation license plate has one unique, loud, shrill set of cries, mating calls.

There is nothing like being in bed, at night on a Maine lake or pond and hearing the ruckus of suddenly very verbal loons.

Or sitting by a camp fire with loved ones after a day out on the water and under the moonlight, a velvet night sky backdrop of stars and listening to the haunting, enchanting sounds as Maine loons offer the nightly entertainment. Whether just one solo or a bunch tuning up for the orchestra all at once, Maine loons always steal the show.

Surveys last year show Maine has more loons than any other Northeast state. Over Maine’s 5000 loons checked in compared to New Hampshire’s 650, Vermont’s 210.

Waterbodies in Maine fifty acres or bigger are the norm for loons. And anything smaller is like an airport when a jumbo jet is circling but lacking the runway length to land. As you paddle a kayak on Drews Lake, a 1000 acre Maine waterbody you quickly figure out watching loons take off that they struggle to achieve lift off, to get airborne.

How can we all help the Maine loons?

Be good stewards of the Maine waterfront. Let them have their space and stay clear in boats observing the no-wake law within 200 feet of shore. Use lead-free tackle, good alternatives are made of steel, tin and bismuth.

Dispose of fishing line so it doesn’t tangle up a loon’s feet or bill. Use phosphourus-free fertilizer, plant shrubs as a buffer along the shoreline to reduce run-off. Fish like Maine loons hate lawns, silt that choke them, hurt the visibility to see food. Or avoid being the lunch when prey approaches.

Keep your distance if you see a loon on a nest, watching with binoculars. Keep garbage out of reach of loon egg predators like skunks and raccoons. Be protective of our Maine loons.

Maine, come for the loons, lobsters, moose, blueberry pie, baked potatoes and lighthouses. And so much more.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

May 24, 2012
Maine, Some Call The People Out Spoken…Frank.

Maine Delicacy, Fiddleheads Are In Season Now, Taste Special With Vinegar.

Maine is a state where all of us living here try daily to keep it simple.

Not needing flash, show, lots of attention. Because most of that dog and pony is surrounded by insecurity. You are going to be very unhappy if impressing others with money, material objects is your primary goal in life. Prepare for deep disappointment if being better than someone else is the way you roll.

Maine people admire hard work, pitching in to make a difference for the common good of the small vibrant communities around the state. Finding your creative talents, purpose for being in a Maine community comes easy. Because the low population means everyone has to step up. Take their part in the role of the local flavor, spark of each and every Maine town.

We take the privledge of having kids seriously, raise Maine families that will do the same.

Using tough love, the word “no”, establishing limits, boundaries, household rules. Not just taking care of own needs. But putting the families, area’s ahead of our own in Maine. While enjoying a drop dead gorgeous natural four season setting only Maine can offer to round out the life experience. Striving to keep it simple, real, honest.

But being frank, a tad outspoken is part of the atmosphere, happens a lot in Maine too.

How you react to it is something you may need to work on. Getting tougher skinned, bucking up. Letting individuals be who they are, hearing them out and seeing the wisdom of what they say is key to being happy, content, at peace in Maine too. How candid are you, do you enjoy candor in other people? I have to be as candid, use candor in my Maine real estate practice daily.

But the truth, setting expectations early on on what you can deliver, what you can not. You do the best you can and look for ways to do even better. But improving situations, relationships with others takes time, consistent hard work. Careful study with help from others. By reading and polishing who we are. Seeing where we need to be.

But reality, and can you handle the truth happens, just like in the movies too.

Maine, we strive to get it right, not make the same mistakes over and over. And don’t take the easy route out of just blaming others when things go wrong. Not in the habit of taking all the credit when everything is going right. We try to be candid, say what’s on our mind trying to use a little tact in the process. Speaking the truth not to hurt feelings but stay on the right path if wandering off it, getting lost starts to happen.

We strive to keep our eyes on our own paper but speak up when situations warrant.

When the truth is needed to avoid confusion, hurt feelings, heading down the wrong rabbit trail. The truth can hurt, maybe cause a phone hang up, silence for a few days. But when you love someone, you need to say what has to be said. That is not uttered out of anger, but out of love for another person. If you don’t, if no one else does, life will not get better, easier.

You and I can get through this life on Earth with its ups, downs, twists and turns easier if we use candor. Are not afraid to speak up and contribute when the going gets tough, bogged down. We are all here to learn, need each other. And remember our kids are watching. Taking their cues from us. Don’t miss the cues. You and I are not always right, have to learn to surrender.

Can you handle the simple honest truth, embrace the candor to see the life course you need to charter?

If yes, you are going to love spending time in Maine. Come for a day, stay a lifetime. If you play mind games, think others are placed on Earth for your happiness alone, like drama and to stir things up in other people’s lives, Maine is not the destination to program in to your GPS.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

May 23, 2012
Maine Ten Year High School Reunions… Beware Of Snarky.

Maine Little League, Being On A Bleacher, Cheering Under A Summer Sun. Priceless.

Had your tenth Maine high school reunion yet?

So many classmates are glad to see you and want to catch up on what is happening in your life. But a few that tool in with exotic cars and long stories of adventures as big as life can become a little snarky. Critical of small town living Maine is famous for and that is the big key to their success outside of Vacationland.

Mainers are not lazy.

And discrimination happens in a good way when in a large employment line the question comes up “who’s from Maine?” Raise your hand, you have a job. The word is out that Mainers know how to work, give a honest day’s labor for a fair wage. It is not all about the money and pride in what we do is part of the payment, reward.

The same few cats that start in on “I thought you were smarter than hanging around Maine” dialogue eventually admit they are jealous.

While they are stuck in hours and hours of traffic with not so friendly people to go short distances as life flies by, Maine small town living provides a different approach to living. No taser worn on your belt needed.

I can be done work, within a minute after leaving home, thirty two feet from my work and be at the little league ball field to help coach. Or hoot, holler, root for the home team riding a bleacher. With other “family first” folks to socialize between which team is taking the field. Which inning are we in, top or bottom? And the kids can ride their bikes to the practice or the early be at the park to hone their skills before the game too. No crime, less people, no traffic, friendly folks that are your neighbors that help raise the kids is why.

Service is big in a small area Maine home town.

Because the joy of pitching in for the common good is its own reward. And in small Maine towns not flush with cash, creative volunteer effort is the only way what needs doing would ever get done.

It’s not about the money, a larger salary, a big car that is an extension of an ego. It is about your purpose, what you are shaped to do for talent, skills. That you can like the covered dish public supper bring to the table. And plan that year after year that is your contribution to the small town community flavor.

Because tons of other local Maine people step up to do their part, in their own special way.

Not for recognition, but for their own personal satisfaction. We are all different, all can contribute in some small or big way. There is no shortage of avenues of service in a Maine small town.

Many involve activities your kids are in. But others are around hobbies, outdoor recreation. Passionate, fire in your belly areas that you can easily pitch in without effort. Not because you have to, because you want to. Heck need to. It’s all about relationships in life. Not glitter, gold, stuff.

Maine is simple living, that’s how we roll here. Don’t move here for the money, or to use it to impress. That card being played, layed down won’t work here. Come sample ME.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

May 22, 2012
Maine Soap Box Derby Car Tech Day Sunny, Fun.

ME Soap Box Derby Tech Day This Past Weekend, Big State Race June 23rd In Houlton ME

Saturday’s Maine Soap Box Derby Tech Day was picture perfect weather wise with blue skies, sunshine, a slight breeze.

The sixteen annual tech day for the Maine Soap Box Derby went smoothly and a big group of second grade, eight year olds made the event extra special.

I am so lucky to have the privledge to help brand new racers. The ones with butterflies, nervousness because of the sheer size of Derby Hill, an engineer race track. But with walking them down the hill, patience, after the first run, that never raced, not so sure driver is a whole new cat. And from there on out, it’s the parents that are nervous, the kids that become some kind of excited.

Three of six race cars I am lucky to be sheperding this year for derby racers are new racers with no experience.

But those are the most fun to work with. One, Anna Hogan, top left in image is cute as a button. And her older sister Lauren was a great little racer that grew up through the ranks. Improving year after year. Making the trophy round and sticking with the challenge, learning curve.

Watch A Maine Soap Box Derby Race Video.

The 16th annual Maine Soap Box Derby State Race Is June 23rd in Houlton Maine.

If you have nothing penciled in on the date, love the excitement of youth spirited racing, plan to take in the Maine Soap Box Derby. For a memorable event, bring your cameras, lawn chair, and enjoy the day outside.

Listening, watching and enjoying friendly competitive down hill gravity kit car racing. Stock, superstock, master cars are divisions for different ages in the 8 – 17 year brackets. For five years in a row, the Houlton Maine soap box derby race was the largest in the nation.

The sixty six volunteer Maine Soap Box Derby adult workers that show up, put on, work the race rain or shine each year are the spark. And the look on new and veteran racer’s faces as they come down the derby hill makes it all so worthwhile to stay involved in the program. Maine, the entire villiage raises your kids.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com

May 21, 2012