How do we choose what to write about?

May 21, 2016May 21, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 6 Comments

This morning I found myself wondering why we find some topics so worth writing about, while others would never make the cut? Why, when I’m sitting around thinking about nothing in particular, will I mark one idea in my mind as something to go back to when I’m writing, and all other thoughts aren’t worth mentioning?

How do we choose what to write about next?

The only answer I could come up with was personal taste. Sometimes I simply say to myself, “That’s an interesting thought.” or “I’ve never looked at things that way!”

Internal thoughts like these actually do determine whether readers come back, because they find my choice of topics or thought processes more interesting than others. But why? I can only surmise that my readers and I share certain values or views on life. Perhaps they find me curious, or in some way similar to them.

I decided a long time ago, when I first started writing a blog, that if a topic was interesting enough to me to cause me to research and write about it, than there certainly must be other readers who would find it interesting.

I started out writing about my own midlife changes. By writing on this topic I met others who had also discovered what a perfect time midlife was to take a long look at your life thus far, and then perhaps change a few major things, before it was too late. Do-overs before it’s all over!

With research I learned exactly how healthy midlife change can be. Who knew? Not me when I first started suffering through a divorce, job/career loss, etc. I thought this was just my own personal hell. Not so!

Somewhere over the rainbow…

Midlife crisis is the gift that keeps on giving! I went from my sad and lonely, unemployed position to finding love, a new career I love, and moving to a fantastic solar home in the southern Colorado foothills.

How’s that for some serious do-overs?

Homeless in Sedona: Mother Nature’s Son

May 12, 2016May 6, 2021 / Laura Lee Carter / 15 Comments

After a visit to northern Arizona to spend time with my brother, who lives in a lean-to along a creek, and a few chance meetings with other boomers who are barely scraping by, I thought I would inform you about one I know very well.

My brother’s case is the most extreme that I personally know of, because he is basically homeless, but in his case he is also happy. He moved south from Durango six years ago with no particular destination, and ended up camping along Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona, Arizona. His family had no idea where he was for three years, until he got in trouble with the Forest Service, and a kind ranger suggested he should give us a call. When I visited him recently he told me the whole story.

Within a week after arriving in Sedona, he found some construction work, but he also had his sleeping bag stolen. The head of his construction company bought him a new one, no questions asked. He has found nothing but helpful people in this city full of millionaires and those that serve them. Someone is always willing to help him out, and the best part for him is living in nature.

He is now on private land and providing a type of care-taking along the creek. We discovered quickly that getting down to the creek is no small accomplishment. The trail is quite steep with parts of it roped to help with some rocky footing. After you make it down there, the next challenge is fording Oak Creek, scary for me, but Mike went over to see John’s camp. He lives in a wood-framed tarp lean-to with a solar-powered lantern and wind-up radio.

His favorite pastime is sitting outside playing his guitar. He is an accomplished singer and songwriter. I wish more people could hear his music. Here’s a sample on YouTube. I have a CD of his mostly instrumental creations if anyone would like one. He picks up extra money playing in the coffee shops and bars in Sedona.

I have never met a person who so loves living in nature. Everyone in our family enjoys solitude and nature. My Dad is a botanist and naturalist, and we were raised camping out more than most, but John is willing to put up with snakes in his sleeping bag and scorpions in his lean-to to continue in his chosen lifestyle. He recently started receiving Social Security, but still chooses to live outside. Besides, he could never afford the rents in Sedona!

How many more years will he be able to make it down that steep hill and across the creek? Mother nature’s son doesn’t appear to be worried…

Sedona Sojourn – May 2016

May 7, 2016November 18, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 8 Comments

“We travel to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin

So off we went this past Monday morning to seek warmer climes down south in New Mexico and Arizona…enough snow already! We packed up ourselves, our cat and dog and headed south. Charlie the cat only made it as far as Trinidad, pooping in his box along the way. (Thanks Charlie!) We left him off at our wonderful vet’s place, and were in New Mexico in 20 minutes.

We headed down to Socorro on I-25 and then west past the Very Large Array. Very cool visitor center! It really brought out the space nerd in Mike, and reminds me of the movie Contact from 1997.

We ended the day at Lyman Lake State Park just across the Arizona border, and were disappointed to learn that this campground appears to be removing all of its camp sites for those not in gigantic RVs. They have expensive, new cabins (without toilets!) and only a few non-electric sites. It seems even in the realm of camping, those with the most money win.

Next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in Show Low, and then continued on to Payson to spend a few hours with Mike’s sister and her family. Then on to Sedona where my brother lives.

Our arrival in Sedona was breathtakingly beautiful, but pure culture shock for Mike and I. Intense traffic by our standards with lots of confusing roundabouts everywhere. For obvious reasons, this place is tourist heaven!

However, it wasn’t heaven for us. We picked up my brother John and proceeded north of town to Manzanita campground, which was full. We then spent an hour or so finding no place to stay anywhere near Sedona.

Finally a nice guy at the Circle K told us about some Forest Service land west of town where we were allowed to sleep in our van.

The best part? The beautiful cacti in full bloom everywhere!

For as beautiful as it is, Sedona was not our cup of tea. To us, it seemed like Estes Park (next to Rocky Mountain National Park) on steroids, so noisy, busy and none relaxing! And it really surprised me that my brother, who lives on the land up north in Oak Creek Canyon, likes it there. But the land is beautiful, the weather is nice, and the people we met there were surprisingly helpful and friendly. I guess John has everything he needs there without having to own a car, pay rent, etc.

Our return trip was not so fun. Mike got sick and it was so windy driving across northern New Mexico. We stayed in Gallup. Mike went to bed and I ventured out to find some dinner and a 35-word short story:

A Visit to McDonald’s in Navajo Country

At first glance there was fear. Who was this beige ghost so out of place? Then I smiled, and experienced a beautiful show of relief. An angel-like round face framed by dark hair smiled back at me.

From my visit with my brother I could only conclude: to each his own. By the time you’re 50 or 60 I guess you know what works best for you. This home in southern Colorado with a tremendous view of the Spanish Peaks is our own version of perfect!

We appreciate it even more now…

Why we love snowstorms in Colorado!

April 19, 2016April 19, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 6 Comments

We’ve been sitting in a snowstorm here at 7,000 feet in southern Colorado for the past four days. I loved it! I wrote about this and it seemed like everyone responded with, “That sounds horrible to me!”

This is exactly how horrible it is. When the snow clears and the Sangre de Cristo peaks emerge from the clouds, we are surrounded by incredible beauty. This is our view to the south today.

This is our view to the west as Mount Mestas emerges from the storm.

Besides the stunning views following a storm, we have now received two and a half inches of precipitation, about one-sixth of our total annual rainfall, leading to fields of spring flowers like Indian paintbrush, lupines, penstemon, or these lovely wild iris:

I took these photos last June, west of here in a high mountain meadow. The same can be said of the photo in the header of this blog, an amazing spread of spring flowers which only appear when we get some hardy spring snowstorms!

In conclusion: If you want the rainbow, you must have the rain…

OMG! It’s an April BLIZZARD!

April 16, 2016April 18, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 13 Comments

The view outside our home Saturday morning…

WOW! I woke up this morning to an honest-to-goodness blizzard around our house in southern Colorado! Fog, blowing snow and very little visibility here today. So glad we were warned, because I’m not sure we could get out even if we wanted to!

It started last night with an amazing thunderstorm around 8pm. Storms are exciting up here because we are at 7,000 feet, and pretty exposed to the elements. We had torrential rains for around an hour before it switched to big clumps of snowflakes.

This morning I had 1.4 inches of precipitation in my rain gauge, and I’m afraid most of the snow blew away over the top! I don’t even know what to estimate the depth of the snow at this morning. It has blown everywhere, and it’s too damn cold to hang out outside right now to measure.

Our view as of Monday morning…more snow on the way!!!

Whenever things like this happen I always think about the early inhabitants of this area who had no weather reports or any real warnings, no grocery stores and primitive sources of heat, transportation and communication. All they could do is hunker down and hope it passes soon.

If you have any interest, the book The Children’s Blizzard is a well-researched and written account of such a blizzard in 1888, that killed a number of immigrant children when a blizzard arrived suddenly and with no warning.

High Desert Murder on NBC Dateline: Our New Next Door Neighbors in Walsenburg, Colorado!

April 15, 2016March 4, 2017 / Laura Lee Carter / 5 Comments

ralph.candelario.crime.scene.1

Not long after we moved to Walsenburg, Colorado in June of 2014, we learned of a murder which occurred one block away from our rental in town. In January 2014, Ralph Candelario reported a home invasion where his wife Pam was bludgeoned to death and he was beaten. Thus began our introduction to life in a small town.

At first we were a little worried, home invasion in a town of 3,000 people? We started reading the local newspaper to learn more about how this happened. In the past year and a half, apparently the truth has come out. Mr. Candelario killed his wife, and then injured himself to make it appear like a home invasion.

I guess one of the most surprising outcomes from our move here has been how often this tiny town gets in the national news. Between their recent decision to become a major marijuana-growing site for Colorado, and this local murder, Walsenburg continues to attract national attention.

Want to learn more? Watch NBC Dateline tonight for the whole story!

How did this happen?

I’m a newcomer to rural southern Colorado. After two years I decided to compile a short journal about the ups and downs of moving from a good-sized city to rural America to build a passive solar retirement home in the foothills:

A Memoir of Retirement: From Suburbia to Solar in Southern Colorado

Please share this information with your friends if they are considering similar life changes. Feel free to contact me directly to discuss any of these challenges, and to order your own signed copies of any of my books! Cheers, Laura Lee (email me: MidlifeCrisisQueen@gmail.com)