Spring Into Some Boomer Blogs

     Spring has arrived in earnest here in the Northeast as well as most other regions in the U. S., except for those places in the very highest latitudes and very highest elevations. We celebrate the coming of spring with Earth Day, held last Friday, as well as May Day, coming up next Sunday. People around the world have been commemorating the arrival of spring ever since pre-Roman times with dancing, singing and in some places gathering around the Maypole.

     In the spirit of the season, Rita R. Robison on The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide offers some energy saving tips to help us do our little part in saving the earth, the only planet we currently have at our disposal. For example, you can install solar-powered yard lights, use energy efficient light bulbs, install water-saving aerators for kitchen and bathroom sinks. And with today's dishwashers (as the pot scrubber in our house I particularly endorse this one), you can also skip pre-washing the dishes and put those grimy plates directly into the dishwasher. For more ideas check out Evaluate Your Energy Use on Earth Day.

Pueblo-style homes face south for warmth

     Meanwhile, Laura Lee Carter has been enjoying the PBS series "10 Houses That Changed America." In her Home Designs post she shows how the TV program relates to her own choice to build a solar-oriented house in one of the higher elevations in the Colorado foothills -- and pays tribute to her husband who knows so much about creating an energy efficient home.

     Things are a little different over at Carol Cassara's blog, Heart-Mind-Soul. She focuses on our fears, not of destroying our planet, but of looking within our own selves. Most of us have experience with some dread disease that appears out of nowhere and strikes a loved one, and we often fear that the same thing can happen to us. In Hypochondriac's Nightmare she talks about the fear she feels (that we all feel) when making a doctor's appointment. Then in Don't Be Afraid, she goes on to examine the flip side of the fear coin -- how we sometimes hesitate to look within ourselves for fear of what we'll find, and how the answers to most questions lie not in the heavens, but within ourselves.

     As for Meryl Baer, she has no fear at all ... for how else can you characterize someone who's willing to fly Spirit Airlines? Okay, maybe that's unfair, but take wing over to On the Road and in the Air Again to alight on her amusing tale of how she enjoys traveling on the cheap in 21st century America.

     Finally, Kathy Gottberg at Smart Thoughts About Birthdays, Blogging and BFFS reports on traveling to Las Vegas and attending her first blogging conference. It was a birthday gift to herself (the end of April marks the 5th anniversary of her SMART Living 365 blog), and as a result she discovered how we can all learn and grow when we open our minds and hearts to new experiences. She offers a few things she learned at the conference -- Bloggers at Midlife, or #BAMC16 -- and advises us to find our own blogging niche, to develop blogging relationships, to occasionally get out of our comfort zone ... and most of all, to go have some fun!