Blogging Boomers Winter Solstice Edition!

December 21, 2015December 23, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 10 Comments

Are you ready for the shortest day of the year? This is it! We’ll get barely nine hours of sun today, and that matters in a solar home! But I LOVE the idea of the light returning soon to bring us another glorious spring!

Today I present to you a few GREAT bloggers who wish to share with you their thoughts around this holiday time.

Tom Sightings presents for you a A Christmas Miracle, set under the tree, that might just make you believe in the goodness of the world, fate, destiny, or kismet. If not, have a cup of hot cider; and that might bring you a stroke or two of luck. Happy holidays to all!

Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting just returned home following a two week adventure in Norway, land of the midnight sun – except in winter, when darkness reigns. She is thrilled to Return to Sunlight.

This week Linda and her husband Art volunteered at the Salvation Army Toy Drive, where they served the parents of 4,500 children in the Tucson area! Volunteers for a fabulous day! What FUN! Keep those kids reading books!

On The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, Rita R. Robison, writes about how satisfied customers of credit unions, online banks , and smaller banks are with their banking experience, in comparison to those who do business with one of the nation’s four largest banks. Go see this survey. Would you like to switch financial institutions?

And me? I haven’t been busy at all, unless you consider weather watching demanding. I enjoy spending time with old and new friends, and thoughts of the winter solstice much more than that whole crazy Christmas scene. And I can assure you, rural living has no noise, traffic, crowds, etc.

Just right for enjoying the sweetness of doing nothing and the challenges of living in the present.

However you enjoy this winter break, please enjoy it thoroughly!

How to Focus on the Present

December 17, 2015December 18, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 5 Comments

I find I prefer keeping my mind on my present. My present is quite wonderful, but my tendency is to unconsciously begin worrying about the future or dig up more stuff from my past. How do I change this? What helps to being me back to now?

I just realized today how a few of my favorite things, help to being me back to focusing on my present.

For one thing, listening to good music brings me to the present and keeps me there. I never forgot this amazing music teacher I had in elementary school. She would play great music and have us close our eyes and make up a story to go with the music. This is still one of my favorite pastimes!

I also have a new hobby that demands a certain amount of presence, coloring. I have been coloring mandalas for a couple months now. This activity takes my mind to all sorts of interesting places.

Certain ones remind me of India or Mayan art, so I go with that, and choose colors that express those cultures best.

Music and art work better for me than straight meditation, just like walking has always worked better for me than silent sitting.

Perhaps that’s just me, but I thought I’d share this discovery, because it is bringing new joy into my life.

Our Sunrise This Morning!

December 4, 2015December 4, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 8 Comments

One picture is worth a thousand words….

Click on photo for full-size view, and follow us on TWITTER!

After the fog clears in southern Colorado!

December 1, 2015January 4, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

“The sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses. Won’t you stay, we’ll put on a day, and we’ll talk in present tenses…” — Joni Mitchell

Yes, I know I’ve been talking about snow and fog quite a lot here, but the best part is after the storm lifts. The views are incredible from every room in our house!

This was the view from my bed this morning when I opened my eyes. Not a bad scene to wake up to, eh?

And the full view looked like this!

Even better than that is the wonderful sun pouring in to warm our home into the 70s within an hour or two. Natural solar heating is the best, and you can’t beat the price!

I have become the total sun worshipper living here. Where would we all be without it? I love to lay on my bed and simply soak it all in!

Living in this place is a great help to focus my mind on the present moment. To hell with all that stuff from the past or worries about my unknowable future. I challenge myself moment to moment to be present with where I am right now. What a blessing that can be!

Snowed in for days and loving it!

November 29, 2015November 30, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 3 Comments

“There is only one success, to spend your life in your own way.” — Christopher Morley

This is our first glimpse of the sun in a few days…

Since our foot of snow on Thanksgiving night, we have been entertaining ourselves quite well. In fact we have been totally fogged in for a few days.

But how can we be bored with fun photos to take, a good book to read, Netflix and lots of snow to shovel?

Not to mention one of my favorite new pastimes, coloring! I am presently coloring mandalas, which represent a microcosm of the universe.

Did you know Carl Jung used to have his patients color mandalas to help them access their subconscious? It works! When I’m coloring I completely stop worry shopping, and focus on my bright future:
Love what interacting with so many colors is doing for me. It sets my underdeveloped artist free! Everyone go try this! It’s wonderfully relaxing.

We have also been slowly getting out our Christmas decorations. This is exciting because last year everything was packed away.

Yes, we are finally home for good!

Our pets are very slowly getting used to each other, kind of…

Rasta’s still mad about that evil intruder Charlie. We joke about Rasta’s favorite present being the disappearance of said CAT!

The marvelous SUN came out this morning. It is glorious! I am a total sun worshipper! So now we are ready for some quiet holidays, watching our pets growl and chase each other around the Christmas tree…

Did I mention? The views are incredible up here, especially after a great big snow storm! We get a 180 degree view of the Sangres!

And BTW, I will be writing soon about that wonderful new book I’m reading…please stay tuned!

My Life in a Snow Globe!

November 27, 2015October 18, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 9 Comments

I’ve only been in a few blizzards, but last night was fantastic! Snow was blowing every which way, circling around the house… When I looked outside I found my precipitation gauge was almost buried in snow!

Here’s what it looked like this morning! Do you see that little bump in the snow out there? That’s it! We got around a foot of snow!

It’s never easy to measure precipitation under these conditions, so I measured all around my gauge and came up with close to a foot.

And the best part? The sun came out this morning to let us know we have not been totally abandoned out here.

This is my idea of a GREAT holiday gift! We’re doing WHITE FRIDAY at our house today, with nothing to do but decorate for the holidays!

Our passions choose us. We do not choose our passions.

How did I end up here, feeling so fortunate?

It’s a long story, one I can now share with you in my new memoir!