Stage II of our home is almost funded. It's starting to look like home to other spirits, too.

Photo copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved.

I've written elsewhere tonight about the sudden change in behavior of the bluebirds, those tiny small spirits from the south who normally give us no more than two to four weeks of their wings'-length time from the end of August into early September. This year, they stayed all winter, and now they have, in effect, moved in.

Their numbers have proliferated this year, at least on our land, but they have always seemed anxious birds, easily spooked. In recent weeks, they have been willing to come closer, but that word is relative.

Over the last two days, they seem to have reach an accommodation in their own minds, a willingness not merely to allow themselves to be visible to us, but to share space as fellow residents. They show a new inquisitiveness about us and our activities, a willingness, however hesitant and quizzical, to be something like friends.

And they have assumed possession of the work site for the house.

Earlier today, I asked Wings, "Is it possible they've been waiting for a home [to be built] here?"

At any rate, they seem to be thrilled with the construction. If necessary, we'll build nesting boxes for them to allow them to share it with us. But this means, apparently, that we are no longer building only for ourselves and the dogs. The bluebirds, the indigo spirits from the south, seem to be putting their brilliant blue feathers into our hands.

Thanks to a couple of incredibly generous donors this morning, we have hit the $13K mark on our $15K goal for Stage II, which essentially encompasses the foundation (no, I had no idea, when I launched this stage, what that would entail). The coming week will see cinder block and slab, pallets of adobes, the beginnings of the walls going up. It will also see the need for two enormous deposits, one for the plumbing and the other for the electrical, as well as a need to shop for windows. With passive solar aimed at a southeastern exposure, that's a lot.

The crew will be back on Tuesday (Monday is set aside for ordering and deliveries), and ready to get to work on the final steps of the foundation. By week's end, the walls should be rising. And so we'll need to launch Stage III as soon as possible. If we can raise the final $2K that will allow me to close this one out by Monday night, I can do that on Tuesday, too.

So please keep sharing the links to our YouCaring page. Please go to the page itself and share via the widgets so that it will post the imagery and description. Please also grab the widget code from the lower right-hand corner of the page, which will give you this:

Donations are great, too, but more than that, we'd like to make sales, value for value. So if you're in the market for beautiful authentic Native art, or if you need to buy a gift for a grad, a bride and groom, a new baby, a birthday, back to school, or simply for yourself, please consider choosing something from Wings's Web site. It's beautiful, amazing, spirit-filled work. If something interests you, get hold of me through the Contact form.

Thank you to everyone who's given us a hand so far, helping us build this house from a distance. After going on six years without a real one, this is more than a dream, it's a lifesaver . . . provided we can keep the building process funded. there's a lot more to do, and a lot more to raise.

The bluebirds have now moved in, "helping" in their own way by perching on the shovels and the batter boards. We can't let them down now. So please give us and them a hand by sharing the link.

Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.