It was a string of wieners. You know, one thing leads to another. We were motivated (company coming) to finally address the finish details of the remodel of 2019. The one that spilled over into 2020, and like so many more important things, had come to a screeching halt. As of October, 2021, we finally installed those French doors to our office which led to moving furniture around, which led to bringing back Super Gail, our designer, to complete the job we started together. She would add touches of color here and there, hang pictures, and arrange our pretty stuff so it wouldn’t look like I did it.

Knowing I prefer to display kitschy stuff that has meaning, Gail gave me an assignment of collecting options before she arrived to perform her magic. BF and I were scrounging through the drawers in the guest bedroom upstairs. Amongst our various inherited treasures, we found the cutest, little, glass bluebird packaged in a white box proudly labeled: “Originals From The Bluebird House; Signed And Dated Collectibles by Leo Ward.” We were the keepers of a Bluebird of Happiness! And we’d stored him in a drawer as if he were just another trinket, worth saving, mainly because it had been special to someone who had been special to us. Gosh!

And then, curiosity landed us here: https://usingart.org/ where we read the following statement.

“Please note: In January 2020, Terra Studios suspended the creation of the Bluebirds of Happiness due to the excessive amounts of natural gas used and the environmental crisis at hand. Bluebirds from 2019 are in stock. Research is ongoing to be able to create the Bluebirds again in the future in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.”

The irony. No Bluebirds of Happiness https://usingart.org/products/bluebird-of-happiness-adult were created in 2020.

I do so appreciate Terra Studios for “using art to create a better world,” and for actively addressing the environmental crisis that absolutely is “at hand,” but I surely do hope they find a way to resume creating The Bluebird of Happiness before the 2019 models sell out. 

Bluebirds are synonymous with happiness. In Indiana, they announce Spring. Throughout the ages, they have been central characters in songs and poems and paintings. This is not a time for running out of, or stashing away, authentic Bluebirds of Happiness. 

As for ours, he will be keeping us company in our “finally finished” office.