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About bettyliedtke

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So far bettyliedtke has created 695 blog entries.

Don’t Answer That!

There’s a fine line between cautious and paranoid, and I’m not sure which side of the line I’m on. Case in point: The phone rang a little while ago. When I answered it, the caller identified herself as being from an official and important-sounding government healthcare organization, and said she was updating my Medicare records. At that point I said, “No, thank you,” and hung up. I could hear her saying something as I was putting the phone down, but she got cut off before [...]

By |September 11th, 2023|Columns, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Don’t Answer That!

September Speed

Okay, raise your hand if you’ve already said – or if someone has said to you – “September?! I can’t believe it’s September already!” Full disclosure: My hand is raised, too. The older we get, the more quickly time seems to fly. Still, there’s something about the month of September that really drives this home. I don’t know if it’s because school starting up again is such a stark milestone – even if we don’t have school-age children anymore, and even if school now starts [...]

By |September 3rd, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings, Values|Comments Off on September Speed

It fits to a T

I try not to write about the same thing twice in a row, but the blog about t-shirt messages warranted a follow-up. And since both posts were a bit heavy-handed, touching on censorship, violence, and discrimination, I thought I would give the topic one more shot, but on a lighter note. So I’m sharing some of my favorite t-shirt messages. One that always makes me laugh said, “If you can remember the 60s, you weren’t really there.” I was in high school in the late [...]

By |August 25th, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on It fits to a T

And the Banned Played On

A number of people commented on my blog post last week, about the t-shirt featuring titles of books that are well-known classics, but have been banned at different times and for different reasons. The caption under the books read, “I’m with the banned.” I was happy to see the response from someone who posted an enthusiastic “I’ll join your band!” Someone else said she found it ironic that books are being banned at a time when movies and videos are filled with explicit sex and [...]

By |August 19th, 2023|Columns, Quotes and Sayings, Respect, Values|Comments Off on And the Banned Played On

The Leader of the Banned

I was tempted to buy a t-shirt I saw advertised recently. It featured a row of books on a bookshelf, with titles that included To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The caption under the books said, “I’m with the banned.” I always enjoy a good play on words. And I’ve actually read most of the books that were listed. But the main reason this t-shirt appealed to me is how important the issue of book-banning [...]

By |August 8th, 2023|Columns, Values, Writing|Comments Off on The Leader of the Banned

We are not alone!

I didn’t pay any attention to the congressional hearing on UFOs, but I learned about it from watching the news. I also learned that UFOs aren’t called that anymore. Unidentified Flying Objects are now known as UAPs: Unidentified Aerial (or Anomalous) Phenomena. Still… I’m one of those who has always believed in the existence of life on other planets. The way I see it, it would be a waste of this vast universe if our planet was the only inhabited one. The issue of whether [...]

By |August 1st, 2023|Columns|Comments Off on We are not alone!

Road Trip Rituals

My husband and I have a ritual we follow whenever we set out on a road trip. As we’re pulling out of the driveway – or hotel parking lot – he calls out, “Wagons…” and I respond, “Ho!” We note the time, and for the rest of the day we have a friendly competition as we each try to be the first to announce, “We’ve been on the road an hour.” Or three. Or nine. After the first few hours, it’s easy to lose track. [...]

By |July 24th, 2023|Columns, Family, Travel|Comments Off on Road Trip Rituals

Weather or Not

We were just south of Chattanooga when we stopped at a rest stop for a quick break. We had been watching dark clouds forming around us, and saw several thick, jagged lightning bolts in the distance. It started to drizzle just as we were walking into the rest stop, and in a few minutes the drizzle had grown to a torrential downpour, with wind to match. The staff at the rest stop locked the door, and herded us all to a sheltered hallway, then pulled [...]

By |July 17th, 2023|Columns, Family, Holidays, Travel|Comments Off on Weather or Not

A Sweet Time

Instead of writing a blog post this week, I’m spending time with our kids and grandkids. Our agenda includes, among other things, celebrating the 3-year-old’s birthday, and making dinosaur-shaped chocolate chip brownies with him, his big sister, and his little brother. What could possibly be more fun or important than this? I’ll see you next week. July 7, 2023 ©Betty Liedtke, 2023 I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is [...]

By |July 7th, 2023|Columns, Family, Values|Comments Off on A Sweet Time

An Exercise in Freedom

Every so often, I look back through my past columns and blog posts—for inspiration, and to keep from repeating myself, especially on holidays. But some of them bear repeating, particularly when something I wrote long ago is as relevant today as when I first wrote it—and sometimes even more so. Below is a column I wrote on July 1, 2004. I hope you find it worth reading now, almost 20 years later. And I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. [...]

By |July 1st, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on An Exercise in Freedom