Looking Out Over My Feet

Covid-19 and Appreciating Your Home.

At 2:45 a.m. a loud squeaky dog toy in our master bedroom woke me up.  I said “Chole”!  But our dog Chloe did not answer. A minute later, I hear the dog toy squeak again. My wife wakes up and say, “what was that”! I turned on the light and looked to see what in the world Chloe was up to.  But it wasn’t Chloe. It was Daisy, the cat. Strange though that Daisy was just sitting staring at the wall there with no dog toy in sight. So, I looked to the wall and saw the culprit. It was no dog toy but a tree frog!!!

The tree frog did its loud squeaky noise again and jumped. I shrieked. My wife ran and got me gloves. I grabbed a Tervis Tumbler and somehow go the tree frog to jump in on the first try!  I let him loose and went back to sleep.

When I woke, I took a shower and dressed. I said goodbye to my wife. She told me to have a nice day. I closed the bedroom door and proceeded 15 steps to my dining room table (my new office). I then made a cup of coffee. I also made one for my wife adding 2 cups of Stevia and cream (It’s so much easier to just have things black). I then brought the coffee to my wife who thanked me for taking all the time and trouble to leave work and come all the way home to get her a coffee.

We’ve been at our home in Jupiter, 17 years now. Those 2 memories will be forever ingrained now in my brain and they happened in our home. Sam was 3 when we moved into our home. Jade, our 16-year-old was not born yet. 2 pets died in our home. 3 new ones came to live with us. 2 weeks ago we did a Zoom funeral for my Father In Law putting roses on our computer at the same time my wife’s family was doing the same on his coffin. Up until this point my childhood home from when I was 4-13 years of age is what I thought of as home. I remember my room and throwing a tennis ball on the side wall with a baseball mitt for hours. Sitting in the backyard under the weeping willow tree. Looking under rocks at worms and other creatures. My childhood home in Chicago will never be replaced but I think our Egret Landing home is where I will have the most memories.

During Covid, I’ve come to appreciate my home differently. I take breaks and sometimes just Looking Out Over My Feet and see things especially outdoors that I have never noticed. Yesterday I saw a woodpecker way up high in the mango tree acrobatically positioning itself while delighting on a Mango. This morning I hear him loudly pecking away. We have 2 new Blue jays that hang out in the front and back every day. I notice various neighborhood spiders and realize they are the same spider and weave in the same spots. We share this plot of land together. I see all the different types of lizards. The green one is my favorite. We have some butterfly plants and they come by all the time.  Our lake view brings all sorts of birds. I love the sunsets the most.

During this time of Covid, it is a reminder to me of why I got into real estate as your home is where memories are made. Memories that will last your lifetime. I have appreciated getting to know my home better.  Now, only if those 2 Blue jays, Spider, and Tree Frog would share in the rent! Well, maybe not the Tree frog as I did evict him.

Jeff Lichtenstein

Owner/Broker Echo Fine Properties

Search for homes