A Few Rays of Sunshine

There has been considerable discussion in the media recently about economic “green shoots.” It appears economists and politicians are seeing the earliest indications that maybe the global economy is stabilizing and may soon begin to improve. The analogy is the springtime emergence of green shoots from plants emerging from winter hibernation leading to subsequent blooming flowers.

I don’t care for this analogy; maybe it is because I grew up in Chicago and know green shoots are often followed by late winter snow storms.

Lately, I have been feeling some rays of sunshine finding their ways through the overcast. Sunshine beats green shoots every day. Sunshine brightens the day, brings energy and vitality, and warms the body and spirit. My doctor says he has fewer patients when the sun is shinning and more after a few days of dark skies and rain.

It has rained quite a bit in Sydney lately. By the time the storms pass, it will have rained several consecutive days. Yet, there are brief periods of sun between the showers which blow through. A few days ago, a rainbow painted the sky above and touched down at our door; surely a symbol of better times ahead.

I continue my uphill journey, but the glimpses of sunshine lighten my burden and quicken my pace. After a year long winter of personal grey skies and stormy weather, the rays of sunshine, even if intermittent, offer hope to a brighter future.

My wife signed a divorce settlement agreement last week after months of acrimony and accusation. I cannot read the terms of the agreement; the scanned copy has been faxed or scanned too many times. I called my attorney, but he lacks a legible copy. "No worries," he says, he and my wife’s attorney will figure it out.

But why not resign a legible copy? No one wants to ask my wife to sign anything again. I have signed three settlement offers from my wife’s attorney, only to have them withdrawn by my wife because she wanted to add more demands. Now she wants to add more demands again, but the documents are executed by all and will not be changed – even if they cannot be read.

I signed up without forethought for an internet dating service and am overwhelmed by the number of single women who want to meet me. Maybe they all are ugly or have psychological issues; maybe there is an ax murderer among them; I don’t know but I appreciate their expressions of interest after being the subject of non stop criticisms for so long. It gives me a measure of hope and confidence there is someone out there who will be my partner and friend.

At work, the mood has definitely experienced some sunshine. In a market environment suffering from tenant contractions and rising unemployment, we succeeded in gaining agreement on the largest new lease for an office tenant this year in Australia. The tenant had firmly rejected our proposal previously, but our staff persevered and would not accept “no” for an answer.

Our $600 million loan is now due June 30 after securing a last minute extension; it now looks like we will be able to refinance and extend the maturity date. No easy feat with 10 banks in the syndicate and the lead bank in the process of being nationalized by the German Government.

After being told by a local bank they would make no more property loans this year, we were approved for a big loan on a development project in North Sydney that was desperate for funding.

The capital markets have been closed for a year with only smaller buildings trading due to lack of debt availability. We signed a Letter of Intent last week to sell a big office building; if it closes it will be the largest asset sale in Australia for many months.

Our one derelict building, unoccupied and uninhabitable is now under terms of agreement to sell it for $75 million for a critical public use.

Today is the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere; from now forward for the rest of the year, the days will become longer. That means more sunshine awaits.

So there are still problems; too much work to do; too many things that can and will go wrong. The economy is still weak and revenues are under pressure. My wife is still sending accusatory emails and calling with confrontational tone. My youngest son continues to dream of a career in Hollywood as the movie industry downsizes. And I continue to live alone.

But the sunlight lingers behind the cloud cover, waiting to break through and light the world. And I continue to climb my mountain, until I reach the sun. I know I am getting closer.