Rasta’s world

What it looks & feels like to be SNOWED IN in the Colorado Foothills west of Walsenburg

/ Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

As many of you already know, I am pretty obsessed with weather watching! I have been reporting daily precipitation to COCORAHS and the Weather Service since the Fort Collins Spring Creek flood in July 1997.

But last night was a lifetime record for me!

This morning I looked out at 23 inches of snow, and it’s still coming down!

Mike went out at 7 AM to measure it for me…

and get our overflowing rain gauge. Yep, 1.23 inches of precipitation!

Yep, it’s really 25 inches total!

Needless to say, Rasta and I have decided to stay in today…

The storm is over and the Juncos are HUNGRY!

Doo doo doo lookin’ out my back door…

Since the Solstice…

/ Laura Lee Carter / 6 Comments
RASTA! My best friend for the past 10 years.

I’ve been feeling a little lost since the summer solstice last week. We had company and while they were here my puppy Rasta began to look very ill. It turned out to be eye problems, with probable glaucoma in one eye. He was barely moving and looked terrible. I had no idea how painful glaucoma can be! We are now giving him painkillers and thinking about taking him to a dog ophthalmologist. (Who knew?)

This was all so traumatic for me. Rasta and I are very close, and in a place where I have so few real friends, I depend on him so much. Since we lost Charlie our cat just a few weeks ago I have been thinking about death too much I guess. Just about everyone in my family is elderly and have a number of health challenges including myself. When did my whole world change? When did I begin wondering when my dog, my family and I will die? Nice summer solstice theme, huh? I do feel fortunate to have had my parents and siblings for so much of my life…

I often am surprised to find out how old I am. How about you?

Best Gift EVER!

/ Laura Lee Carter / 8 Comments

The day I got Rasta in 2008

Talk about the perfect Christmas gift! Ten years ago today I received my puppy Rasta. He was the runt in a litter full of BIG BOYS! His brothers were all twice his size! He weighed around 2.5 pounds.

Rasta Xmas 2008 (2)

Little did I know how totally in love I would fall with this tiny puppy being…

Laura & Rasta Xmas-2012-CROPPED

He has become my best buddy every day of my life. Always with me, always loving.

Mike and Rasta in kayak 3 (2)

And Mike loves him too!

So many sources of STRESS, and our responses

/ Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

charlottesville-riot August 12 2017Everyone who hasn’t felt any stress this past week, please raise your hand. To avoid stress you would first have to totally avoid all news sources. We have had a virtual smorgasbord of hate and violence both nationally and internationally this week. Take your pick.

cure for insomnia

For some this can lead to difficulties sleeping, like Carol Cassara. She says, Can’t sleep? Don’t want to pop a pill? This super easy remedy works every time for Carol Cassara over at Heart Mind Soul.

wake me in 2020For others, like Meryl Baer, it can lead to thoughts about our next election: Politics and the Presidency is everywhere these days. Speculation has already begun about who the 2020 candidates might be. Will the current President be the standard bearer? If not, who will be the Republican nominee? What about the Democrats? Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting throws in her two cents on the topic in Countdown to the 2020 Presidential election.

Boomer Blogger Tom Sightings has been plenty busy lately, what with moving into a new home in a new state. He has found his new friends to be curious — and a little puzzled — about his blogging efforts. So in an effort to explain the compulsion to send out random thoughts into the Internet, he offers the Top 10 reasons for blogging in his article  Why Do We Blog?  Read on for a few more reasons offered by readers in the comment section of the post.

On The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, Rita R. Robison, consumer journalist, is helping people reduce stress by offering back-to-school shopping tips. See Robison’s suggestions on what not to buy early and what shoppers need to know about outlet malls.

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As you must all know by now, my solution is avoidance, partially because of a few difficult health issues. I’m not particularly proud of my attempts at escapism, but I think I earned some time off. I spend my time enjoying photography, reading, movie watching, gardening, yoga, visits to town for fun festivals, friends coming by to visit, and that funny skunk weed, recently made legal here.

My goal? To continue to find new ways to enjoy the beauty and majestic splendor of life. To assist me in this effort, Mike bought me the ultimate nature-watching gift this week…

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One picture is worth a thousand words, right Rasta?

3 Worst Gadgets by Rasta the Wonder Dog

/ Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

Rasta as construction assistant

Helping my crazy parents out with our home construction…

My mom Laura and I were recently watching the TV show: 101 Gadgets That Changed The World, when it suddenly struck both of us at once that there are a few of these supposed “top gadgets” that have changed the world in a very BAD WAY!

We can go either way on most gadgets. Like a picnic ice chest, what’s not to like about an ice chest except that they are far too heavy to carry sometimes when you drink too much beer, and they never hold enough dog treats!

What’s not to like about a blender, I mean really…

But there are a few supposed improvements in modern life that have simply made life worse. The number one gadget in this list is the Mobile/SmartPhone.

smart phoneIt all started with the Blackberry, introduced in 1999; by 2009 50 million of these devices had been sold. Originating in Finland and Japan in the 1970s, mobile phones have fast become the most widely used gadget in the world. Today over 75% of the world’s population use them. However, that does not include me.

I have witnessed far too many people who have become slaves to their phones. Some even ignore the person (or dog!) in front of them, and just play with their phone non-stop. People can be so stupid sometimes!

Me, I’ve never used a phone so I just don’t get it. I prefer the up-close and personal approach, like jumping in the car with whomever appears in my driveway. Yes, that does include the UPS man.

old radioI think number two, the radio is OK, but I’m not so sure about number three, the television. It seems to me it just gives everybody a great excuse to veg-out. People can be so lazy! Some can even sleep as much as I do, and that’s too much!

old computerOne thing I really don’t like is number five, the personal computer. My mom spends far too much time on hers. She sometimes won’t even let me sit on her lap while she’s typing. Totally a BAD IDEA! Anything that takes her undivided attention away from me stinks!

 

laura-rasta-xmas-2012-croppedI’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)