After the Snow, Lovely Sunshine!

January 9, 2016October 11, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 12 Comments

It snowed all day yesterday. It was so peaceful and beautiful…

And then this morning I woke up to the prettiest winter morning I could ever imagine… granted it is 3 degrees outside, but it is truly glorious!

The mountains in the distance are, of course, stunning from our front windows, but what thrills me the most is the sparkles in the newly fallen snow…

so hard to capture, and yet exactly like someone threw small diamonds all over the ground.

And here is an early morning photo of the tidy little valley below us…

just as the sun comes up to make our new day the best ever!

Click on photos for full-size views, and follow us on TWITTER!

I am filled with gratitude that I can now live like this forever. Please go learn more about our move from Fort Collins to here in my new memoir!

Solar Heating & Weather Patterns Northeast of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range

January 7, 2016October 15, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 5 Comments

Clouds over the Spanish Peaks in January 2016

Clouds over the Spanish Peaks in January 2016

After a few nice sunny days, we’re having a cloudy one today, with snow expected tomorrow morning. I am happy to report our first ‘winter’ electric bill was really not bad, less than we ever expected. This passive solar heating is definitely doing an excellent job of keeping us warm and happy!

It has been interesting to study and learn more about the weather patterns down here. The Sangre de Cristo mountains south and west of us, are the best predictor of snow storms coming this way. They almost always come from that way. When we see a storm up in those mountains, there’s an excellent chance we’ll also be snowing here soon.

I just released a new book about what we went through in the past two years, packing up our life in suburbia, moving to rural Colorado, and starting a whole new life.

Want to learn more about this move from busy, noisy Fort Collins to this place of silence and great weather watching? Go here!

And please follow us on TWITTER!

Turn This Resolution into a Revelation!

January 1, 2016October 11, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 2 Comments

Last year at this time, we were just beginning to see an actual home emerge from our slab, which took us five months to produce! This brings us to my new year’s revelation.

Why not start out 2016 on a note of gratitude? We really do have so much to be thankful for!

Why not let go of the old gripes and channel gratitude for a change? Need a little help? Go here and spend five minutes absolutely FOCUSED on this video. If you absorb this video every day, it WILL change your life.

I just saw the new Star Wars movie yesterday. My favorite line?

“When searching for a sense of belonging, seek not in what is behind you, seek in what is ahead.”

It’s a whole new year! What’s in it for you?

In addition, I just received this marvelous revelation from my niece’s FB page: Drinking champagne helps you fight off Alzheimer’s! Champagne became my favorite drink during construction, and so lets raise our glasses:

Here’s to those who wish us well, all the rest can go to hell!

I am filled with gratitude that I can now live like this forever. Please go learn more about our move from Fort Collins to here in my new memoir and follow us on TWITTER!

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.

The Sweetness of Doing Nothing

December 8, 2015November 20, 2017 / Laura Lee Carter / 16 Comments

“There’s nothing sweeter than falling in love with the moment we’re given, the only one we have.” — Marcia Smalley

I saw the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” for the first time the other night, and enjoyed it. Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey reminds me at times of my own, except I did most of my traveling in my twenties and thirties, before I settled down to a regular career in libraries. Sometimes I cannot even remember all the countries I have experienced! I count at least 10 just in Asia…

But one line struck home for me, an apparently common Italian phrase: “The sweetness of doing nothing.” In this part of the film a barber is explaining to Liz the difference between Americans and Italians. And the more I thought about that idea, the more I agreed.

In my travels in France and Italy, I was struck by how relaxed and happy most people were compared to us. I can see how Europeans might see us as too busy, too serious, always in a hurry, pressured and uptight. I remember hearing children singing together on their way home from school as they walked the narrow, cobblestone paths of Venice, an indelible glimpse into a completely different way of life.

The Spanish Peaks in the ghostly morning light!

The Spanish Peaks in the ghostly early morning light!

Only now, since we moved to a rural area and as I recover from a new brain injury, do I appreciate the simplicity and peace of doing nothing.

This is something I was not raised on, and the guilt is still present with me, but I work everyday to cultivate this art. My goals are to heal my brain while also healing my past. Now I embrace every moment I can find to sit in silence and appreciate my life. I am filled with gratitude that I can now live like this forever… Instead of worrying about the past or demanding more of my future, I can now just be here, loving my life. Learn more about our adventure. How we ended up down here, etc. in my new memoir!