Earth. Why are you here and what kind of difference can you make during that short stint?

     Choices, considerations, patience and thirst, hunger to sample more ways to see what is missing? The number one underlying theme I hear over and over, see day today in running a Houlton Maine real estate office comes from emails, calls from outside or office visits to  "Vacationland". Folks that are not happy, not in their right place, anxious to fly the heck out of where ever they are currently parked on the planet.

     Some carrying tasers. Many bone weary, tired and wondering if a stroke, financial ruin is just a heart beat away. Sure they have super homes. Kids raising themselves and not home much either. Way over booked, thinnly stetched to be here, there, in every activity with the bottom line high entertainment experience. Having fun full time, wide open. Parents and kids both not home much. Rarely there and mom/dad working two jobs each to keep their nose above the day to day financial water line. Many tell you openly their credit is a disgrace. Scattered debris behind them with relationships with family, creditors, employment.

Venturing to a new land, to shake the etch-a-sketch to begin again. Fresh, a new start but armed with nakedly brutal learned lessons the hard way under their belt.

     And often the common request to just get away from people. Not because they are anti-social. But their hub bub, problems to date usually center around bothering their neighbor. Or being weary of hours and hours spent in needless traffic, or waiting in line for some product, service that robs precious life moments. Maine, with 11 people per square mile in Aroostook  County, this is what the largest of the state's sixteen counties is here for. To regroup, to enjoy the unspoiled, under populated four season beauty. To get away from wall to wall people. To spend some time with yourself and loved ones. To breath, think. To figure out life and the direction your feet should take day to day. Are you overwhelmed, over taxed, bewildered? Maine, get here quick as you can. You get everything you need, have gone without that really matters in Maine.

The real estate buyer was supposed to be in Maine last week to look at a Main Street Houlton ME victorian.

     Can you see living in the upstair of a Maine victorian home, while running the tables, serving the meals, shooting the breeze with dinners downstair? Asking them "How was your steak?" "Do you like my grandmother from the old country's Italian sauce on that chicken? Too spicy?" Or like the big fella pictured, "How was your fish?" knowing the only fish fresher is still swimming in the Maine sea, the Maine lake.

Serving the public...literally feeding them something they enjoy.

     What images, artwork, pictures for the walls around your in home restaurant that show the essense, the flavor of the area of Maine you are from? Mr Moose caught taking a Saturday afternoon bath might be on one wall if you are living in Maine, showing the diners what the area is all about.

     Designing your menu with the right colors, a certain font and the right diner lingo to fit the cruisine you are serving. What table clothes, dinnerware pattern?

     Dining is an experience and you are not operating a drive thru.

     Your meals are not to be hurried and conversation, a little laughter and a glass or two of wine  or your favorite livation part of the experience or not. Up to you. To each his own.

     And after the meal in your favorite part of the home, you walk to the local movie theatre, take in a show. Or if your small town provides a local Maine McGill's band like Houlton ME does, that may be the last course of the dining out meal extravaganza.

Our area is lucky as we are not far from the ocean, and right on the Canadian border. So border hopping to shop, eat or just leave the country for a few hours is common. I joke that  not many of us on the American side would not pass the test of being at least a quarter Canadian dna.

Maine waters in the lakes, rivers, streams are crystal clear.

     So when you buy a vacant ME waterfront lot or an existing structure on a Maine lake, river, stream, what can you do? Always, always check with local towns or cities that the property is in. In the event the Maine waterfront real estate is in an unorganized townships, check with Augusta Maine to see if permits were received for earlier work so you know what you are walking into. Real estate box canyons are not fun and Maine takes water quality protection very very seriously. Remember, Maine is the way life should be. And so much of what we do is tied to the great outdoor natural resources that the state is loaded with.

     The DEP (Maine Department of Environmental Protection) And LURC (Maine Land Use Regulation Commission) are super, dedicated folks to work with.

When you hear someone complaining about those offices, it is 99% because violations were made, or lack of permiting from the previously owner and after the fact resolutions can be as much fun as a colonoscopy.

     Cloudy, silt rich lake, pond, river or stream water is not fun for a fish to live in. And algae bloom, milfoil water vegetation further cuts off the oxygen levels. Maine, fill your lungs with clean fresh air. The Maine waterfront is treated the same way...keep it clean, unspoiled and a safe habitat for fish, birds, animals that depend on it. Questions about what you can do or not do and the process of what needs a permit? 207.532.6573.

Easy big fella...if you bought a mobile home and want to move it from one Maine town to another, you need some paperwork in order.

     The town provides a state of Maine taxes/sewer/water certificate fees certification statement with the tax collector's signature, name, date PLUS it has to have the town stamp, embossed and raised on that paperwork.

     If you don't get the paperwork in order before the move, nothing is moving. You need the state of ME to issue an Maine overlimit permit to get your new home on wheels rolling down the highway. The fax number is 207.622.5332. Or drop it in the mail way ahead of the move date to bve safe at Overlimit Permit Unit, 29 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333-0029.  The other reason for getting the Maine property taxes paid is when you land the mobile at the new spot, you don't want to pay the taxes again...in two places.

One tax bill is enough to swallow.

Kids that are bounced around, in and out of four schools in one year don't have a bright future.

     Testimonials about the experience like

"When the kids come into care, they are like a tight rosebud, and I get the opportunity to watch them open into a beautiful flower...that's what makes foster parenting good for me."

     In Maine, approximately 1976 children are currently in the care of the Maine Department Of Health and Human Services. There are today roughly 1240 licensed Maine foster homes.  A total of 296 children in  Maine's DHHS custody were adopted in 2008.  In Maine, according to the 2000 census, over 11,354 children under 18 do not live with a parent. The number nationwide is climbing in this category. Do you have what it takes to be a foster parent? The average age of foster home provides in Maine is 30 to 35. Working folks that want to make a difference and are capable of lots of love. The abilty to open up their home to children that need it desperately in a period of their lives when their biological parents are not able to provide a healthy family home environment for them.

Maine, Folks Take Care Of Each Other Here.