building passive solar

The Aspens are Golden This Time of Year!

/ Laura Lee Carter / 3 Comments

IMGP4200I had just been up to Cripple Creek on Friday, so I knew the aspens would be perfect up at Cordova Pass yesterday. It’s south of here, off the Highway of Legends.

At 11,248 feet (3,428 m)), Cordova Pass lies on the western shoulder of the West Spanish Peak.  The drive up there was gorgeous and made so much better with the fact that so few people are ever on that road.

IMGP4211And when we got there… WOW!

IMGP4222I didn’t know this is also a wonderful place to view wildflowers in mid-June. We also stopped off in the tiny town of Cucharas (altitude 8,468 feet), and made a reservation at the Timbers for Mike’s upcoming birthday.

IMGP4226Then we came home to see the Broncos win again, observe another gorgeous sunset over the Spanish Peaks, and then a beauty of a lunar eclipse!

IMGP4227“I just want to live happily ever after every now and then…”  — Jimmy Buffet

the beauty of the earth

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Reconnecting with nature

/ Laura Lee Carter / 5 Comments

I see now that it is only by living in a suburban home for 60 years, that I can now see the difference in terms of connecting with nature.

Yes, I still live in a house, unlike my brother who lives outside all of the time, but in a place like this, nature cannot be ignored.

For example, in a passive solar home which is properly positioned to the sun, the solar heat is just now starting to edge into the south-facing windows.

Sleepy Rasta keeping warm in sept 2016Ask my pup Rasta. He loves the new sun on his dog bed. And yes, he does wear a jacket even in the summer, crazy pup.

IMGP4073Another example is the incredible sunsets we sometimes enjoy, like last evening.  At first I only noticed the nice light to the southeast of us.

IMGP4076It was still cloudy to the west, over Mount Mestas. IMGP4082Then I looked out a few minutes later to see this!


IMGP4080Now tell the truth, if this was happening right outside your door, could you really ignore it?

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When did you first begin thinking about retirement?

/ Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

IMGP4000Mike and I had an interesting conversation yesterday about retirement. I was talking about how strange, but wonderful it is living here in the southern Colorado foothills, when I said, “This was really your dream, but I love it!” So he turned to me and asked, “What was your dream?” I was totally stumped.

When I met Mike over ten years ago, I was unemployed after an unfair firing at age 49. I was actively worrying about my next house payment. I don’t recall ever thinking about retirement! In fact, I had only thought so far as to put away as much money as I possibly could. That was about it.

IMGP4056So I asked him when he started thinking about it. He said he began dreaming about it in childhood. That was when he first imagined having a tremendous view in a rural mountainous area. The man has always had so much more vision than myself.

I’m not completely sure why, but I have always had trouble fantasizing something better, and in this way I now see how I have severely limited my options.

Why bring this up? Because I now think it is so important to teach your kids to continue to visualize a better life. If you can’t visualize it, you probably won’t be able to create it. These are the words I live by now:

Abundance is how we live in each moment – the choice to be open, the choice to entertain the possibility that we can have, create and attract what we truly want. 

I Still Can’t Believe I Live Here….

/ Laura Lee Carter / 16 Comments

Walsenburg city limits signThe culture-shock continues at this end. I remember daily my surprise when we first moved here from busy, expensive Fort Collins last summer. Walsenburg is very small, quiet and poor. Back then, every time I went out to my car to go somewhere I would think, “Where the hell am I?” Ours was a move from one of the richest cities in Colorado to the absolute poorest. Yes, this was a challenge to the way I saw myself.

About once a month we would go eat breakfast at the local greasy spoon, that cafe that has been on Main Street for a hundred years. Phyllis, the owner, cook, and waitress would always ask, “Where are you from?” We would always answer, “Here.” It took her a few months to accept the fact that we would be coming back monthly.

Last time I was there, I asked her to sit down for a minute and tell me about Walsenburg. She said it used to be a nice little town, back when there were still some good jobs left. She said downtown was buzzing back then, but since the mid-1980s it’s been going downhill. Now some believe the influx of people and dollars for cultivating marijuana will save the town. She’s not so sure, but hopes for the best.

Now, after one of the most stressful years of my life because of the major challenges of moving into a very old house in a sad little town, and then completing a home in the foothills west of here, I again feel culture shock.

After a lifetime of living mostly single, extensive world travel, constant change, and relentless uncertainty, I live now in an amazingly peaceful place with my loving husband and great puppy. Sometimes this feels like a dream. I’m staying at a quiet, beautiful mountain resort, and I begin to wonder when the management is going to kick me out!

How did this happen? How did I end up in the amazing place, feeling so happy and lucky? It’s a long story, one I would love to share with you!

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A New Week in a Spectacular New Home In The Southern Colorado Foothills!

/ Laura Lee Carter / 12 Comments

So relieved to have our final move behind us!

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All I feel is gratitude for the many ways my life has changed since I decided to make love my highest priority back in 2004. I see now that if I hadn’t decided to find a way to believe in love again back then, none of my other goals could have been achieved.

First there was my fortuitous meeting with Mike in early 2005, which led to having the courage, time and energy to begin a new writing career. My books followed as Mike and I’s relationship grew.

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Then, when the time seemed exactly right, we decided to move out of the city forever and found this lovely valley to build in with 180 degree views of the Spanish Peaks and the Sangre de Cristos. But if Mike had not had the vision and the proper skills to create this home, it would have never been built.

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The peace and quiet, the chilly air in the morning as the sun comes up, this is heaven or close enough for me.

How did I end up here, feeling so fortunate?

It’s a long story, one I can now share with you!