Bluebirds of Happiness

A bluebird at Pope Farm Conservancy. 3/21/2015 dwm

 In folklore across nations and cultures, the bluebird is considered a sign of better days ahead.

 The small bird is associated with luck, happiness, and joy.  

 Chinese saw it as immortal, a protector, and symbol of the sun.  Navajo revere it as a spirit in animal form and Iroquois believed the bird's song made hard winters bearable.  Russians saw hope when they saw the orange breast, blue cap, cape, and body.

 I remember learning in the 4th grade that bluebirds were disappearing.  As recently as the 1960s nearly 90% of the eastern bluebird population had declined east of the Rocky Mountains over the prior 50 years.  The culprit? Non-native English house sparrows.

Those lessons in school were part of the impetus for the birds' comeback as people helped create habitat and place birdhouses that could replicate dead and hollow trees bluebirds relied on.

A song called The Bluebird of Happiness was written in 1934, the recording sold more than a million copies.

The Bluebird of Happiness by Santor Harmati and Edward Heyman

Flying patches of blue and orange. 3/21/2015 dwm

Here's the second verse:

Be like I, hold your head up high,

Till you find a bluebird of happiness.

You will find greater peace of mind

Knowing there's a bluebird of happiness.

And when he sings to you.

Though you're deep in blue,

You will see a ray of light creep through,

And so remember this, life is no abyss, 

Somewhere there's a bluebird of happiness.