Enjoying a Celebration of Never Moving Again!

June 17, 2016January 31, 2020 / Laura Lee Carter / 5 Comments

Today marks two years since we left our perfectly nice home in suburbia for the adventure of a lifetime. It may not sound like such a big deal to move to small town USA to build a custom solar home in the southern Colorado foothills, but it was for us at age 60!

We moved to Walsenburg on June 17th 2014, to sleep on the floor of this hundred-year-old rental, moving in the next day and staying there for 13 months while our new home was forming far too SLOWLY 20 minutes west of town at 7,000 feet. Mike worked as the contractor and purchaser of all things when we found the builder was not taking competitive bids, but just hiring his local friends.

Then on July 30th, 2015 we moved into our new home, HOME AT LAST!

For weeks after that move we just sat and stared out the window, mesmerized with the awesome views out our front windows, too exhausted to do anything else. We finally made it to our goal after many, many challenges and so many days of absolute stress.

Why did we do it? Our trip to Pueblo yesterday answers that question quickly. Being in cities always ruins my day. We need to go there occasionally to buy certain things, but the stress, the heat, the traffic, the bad air and bad manners of other drivers always convinces us we will never live there again!

We have no patience with cities anymore, and why should we when we have a magnificent place where we can escape them?

Today we will drink a toast to surviving all these many changes and challenges, and also to never moving again! Instead we will try to get our patio finished this summer, enjoy the great wildflower displays everywhere, the cool mountain breezes each evening, and offer encouragement to others who have found their new home in this small slice of heaven.

Want to learn more about our experience of moving from the city to the country to live a quiet, relaxed life? Check it out here!

Why write about yourself and your experiences?

June 13, 2016October 31, 2017 / Laura Lee Carter / 10 Comments

As I begin working on my next book, a journal of retirement, I wondered why anyone would find this story interesting. I have certainly had more interest in this blog than I ever expected, with over 50,000 views so far from over 25,000 visitors all over the world! I so enjoy seeing those from other countries taking an interest in our escapades in rural southern Colorado.

Of course the next question is why blog at all? Why do some wish to share their daily lives and lessons with others, while most can’t even imagine it?

In this particular case, I thought there might be some who would like to see what it feels like to choose to leave a nice suburban home in one of the “best retirement cities in the country” to move to a rural area with little traffic or shopping, but so much amazing natural beauty and lovely silence. And as I read the posts I wrote a couple years ago, when considering this gigantic change for myself, I do find my thoughts and worries interesting in retrospect.

I guess what interests me the most is the psychology of changing something major in your life, especially past age 50 or 60. Why do some take the risk and go for it, while others stay home and watch TV? I guess it just comes down to personal taste, but also a gigantic fear of change.

I was full of fear the day we sold our nice home in Fort Collins. I really did not know what to expect, and I admit it, parts of our experience down here have been quite discouraging. But now I know we made the right choice for both of us. Sometimes you just have to take the big risk, leap, and build your wings on the way down.

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we had planned, to have the life that is waiting for us.” — Joseph Campbell

3 Worst Gadgets by Rasta the Wonder Dog

June 9, 2016March 3, 2017 / Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

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.

It 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.

I 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!

One 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!

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)

My biggest rain and hail storm ever!

June 7, 2016June 7, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 5 Comments

Last evening it started pouring rain around 6:15 pm and didn’t stop. Then the hail started falling on our steel roof and scared the cat. Half-inch diameter hail started pelting us with a vengence!

It just kept coming for over an hour, with larger hail ever more threatening. The county road outside was running down hill like a river!

When it finished we had 3.4 inches of rain in one hour!

P.S. Just learned about this great video about Southern Colorado!

The Best of the Boomer Blogs – June Edition

June 5, 2016June 6, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 9 Comments

The wildflowers are just taking off in this part of southern Colorado. Springtime here is truly glorious! Check out the yellow flowers on my header, taken last June near our home. We think this beats the hell out of mowing a lawn!

And speaking of spring, here comes a few great blog posts from my boomer friends. Meryl Baer says: Baby boomers grew up during the turbulent 1960s, not so long ago in the minds of those of us who lived through the era. Yet the 60s decade came and went over 50 years ago. This week Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting faced the harsh fact that the 60s not only occurred over 50 years ago, but are ancient history to younger generations. Read about her revelation in I am History.

Doing a little bowl-sitting…

It feels like the dog days of summer early in her part of the country, so Carol Cassara at Heart-Mind-Soul presents us with some dog posts. Here are her tips for traveling with your dog this summer or any time. And because everyone loves cute dog photos, which of these gorgeous pups are your favorites?

On The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, Rita R. Robison, consumer journalist, writes about two pieces of news for consumers. A federal agency is proposing a rule to end payday loan debt traps. And, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing voluntary guidelines in an effort to work with food companies and restaurants to gradually adjust sodium levels in food. While the payday loan rule has the potential to save consumers nationwide billions of dollars in unfair fees and interest, the salt guidelines are voluntary and only will be helpful if companies decide to follow them.

This week Tom Sightings takes on the issue of men and women. In Part I — What Happened to the Men? he discusses recent trends in employment and education, and concludes with one hope for his children.

One Terrible Side Effect from Marijuana Use

June 2, 2016June 2, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 6 Comments

I learned something amazing this week. After a few years of cyclic flu-like symptoms and horrible stomach aches, a friend of ours finally got a useful diagnosis for his problems.

He had made a couple trips to the ER for severe stomach pain, had numerous medical tests, cat scans, you name it, for the same symptoms that kept coming back regularly. In this case, it was hit or miss until he finally ran into the right doctor.

The right doctor told him about “Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome” -(CHS). This is a little known side effect of consuming a lot of THC over a number of years. “Hyperemesis” means continuous nausea and vomiting over many hours with severe stomach cramps. Apparently many ER doctors don’t know about this so they do the usual blood tests, urine tests, cat scans of the stomach, over and over again without finding a cause for this cyclic illness.

Many patients are using marijuana for nausea or the inability to eat properly, so the contradiction in this diagnosis is obvious and to some unbelievable. The paradoxical nature of these symptoms perhaps has made it more difficult for the medical establishment to recognize CHS. It was first reported in the medical literature in 2004. Go to Google to read all about it.

My friend did research but never found it because of its paradoxical nature and strange medical name. He is so glad to finally meet a doc who is up on these things!

The only short-term relief to be found to these horrible stomach cramps is long, very hot showers. One article mentioned a patient who used up all of his hot water at home and then went to a motel for more! The nausea and vomiting can last for over 24 hours.

Unfortunately, the only long-term solution is to stop THC consumption immediately. This is much easier said than done by the heavy weed consumer. Perhaps literature from Marijuana Anonymous can help.

I plan to get the word out on this in every way I can. These symptoms are horrible, and will keep coming back over many years if you never get the proper diagnosis.

Post Script: We had a beauty of a double rainbow here last night!

Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts

Beauty is the garden where hope grows

retirement in southern Colorado

Enjoying a Celebration of Never Moving Again!

Today marks two years since we left our perfectly nice home in suburbia for the adventure of a lifetime. It may not sound like such a big deal to move to small town USA to build a custom solar home in the southern Colorado foothills, but it was for us at age 60!

Then on July 30th, 2015 we moved into our new home, HOME AT LAST!

For weeks after that move we just sat and stared out the window, mesmerized with the awesome views out our front windows, too exhausted to do anything else. We finally made it to our goal after many, many challenges and so many days of absolute stress.

We have no patience with cities anymore, and why should we when we have a magnificent place where we can escape them?

Want to learn more about our experience of moving from the city to the country to live a quiet, relaxed life? Check it out here!

Why write about yourself and your experiences?

Of course the next question is why blog at all? Why do some wish to share their daily lives and lessons with others, while most can’t even imagine it?

I guess what interests me the most is the psychology of changing something major in your life, especially past age 50 or 60. Why do some take the risk and go for it, while others stay home and watch TV? I guess it just comes down to personal taste, but also a gigantic fear of change.

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we had planned, to have the life that is waiting for us.” — Joseph Campbell

3 Worst Gadgets by Rasta the Wonder Dog

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.

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.

I 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!

One 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!

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)

My biggest rain and hail storm ever!

Last evening it started pouring rain around 6:15 pm and didn’t stop. Then the hail started falling on our steel roof and scared the cat. Half-inch diameter hail started pelting us with a vengence!

It just kept coming for over an hour, with larger hail ever more threatening. The county road outside was running down hill like a river!

When it finished we had 3.4 inches of rain in one hour!

P.S. Just learned about this great video about Southern Colorado!

The Best of the Boomer Blogs – June Edition

The wildflowers are just taking off in this part of southern Colorado. Springtime here is truly glorious! Check out the yellow flowers on my header, taken last June near our home. We think this beats the hell out of mowing a lawn!

This week Tom Sightings takes on the issue of men and women. In Part I — What Happened to the Men? he discusses recent trends in employment and education, and concludes with one hope for his children.

One Terrible Side Effect from Marijuana Use

I learned something amazing this week. After a few years of cyclic flu-like symptoms and horrible stomach aches, a friend of ours finally got a useful diagnosis for his problems.

He had made a couple trips to the ER for severe stomach pain, had numerous medical tests, cat scans, you name it, for the same symptoms that kept coming back regularly. In this case, it was hit or miss until he finally ran into the right doctor.

My friend did research but never found it because of its paradoxical nature and strange medical name. He is so glad to finally meet a doc who is up on these things!

The only short-term relief to be found to these horrible stomach cramps is long, very hot showers. One article mentioned a patient who used up all of his hot water at home and then went to a motel for more! The nausea and vomiting can last for over 24 hours.

Unfortunately, the only long-term solution is to stop THC consumption immediately. This is much easier said than done by the heavy weed consumer. Perhaps literature from Marijuana Anonymous can help.

I plan to get the word out on this in every way I can. These symptoms are horrible, and will keep coming back over many years if you never get the proper diagnosis.

Post Script: We had a beauty of a double rainbow here last night!