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It all started when the Ferrari didn’t

I was at a Georgia Writers Museum event a few nights ago, but that’s not what this story is about. It’s not about the yellow Ferrari, either, although that’s what started it all. What it’s really about is the people – small-town families, big-city couples, people of different ages, stages, and stations in life. And it’s about, as Blanche DuBois famously stated in A Streetcar Named Desire, “the kindness of strangers.” The Writers Museum event had ended, and almost everyone had left, when a couple [...]

By |October 7th, 2023|Columns, Family, Values|Comments Off on It all started when the Ferrari didn’t

Double Vision

I attended an event yesterday called “Dual Visions: Art Through Different Eyes.” It’s an annual show sponsored by the Artisans Village, an art gallery and studio in the city where I live. Preparation for the event starts months ahead of time, when photographers bring in their best photos, and other artists – painters, mainly – come in to select a photo and then recreate it. The artwork is then displayed, with photos and paintings next to each other. The result is always breathtaking. Several friends [...]

By |September 15th, 2023|Columns, Gifts and Talents, Values|Comments Off on Double Vision

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

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

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

It’s Past Time

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of looking ahead toward tomorrow, rather than back at yesterday. But now I’m reminded of how pleasant it can be to look back, too. On Saturday, my husband and I attended the 2023 Putnam County Dairy Festival. It’s a big-deal annual event in the town where we live, although this is the first time in the six years we’ve lived here that we’ve gone. In our defense, we’ve been out of town during some of the [...]

By |June 7th, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Values|Comments Off on It’s Past Time

What we want, what we need

It was in the middle of a recent writers workshop that a line from a Rolling Stones song popped into my mind. The line, and the song, is “You can’t always get what you want.” This happened as the workshop leader was talking about some of the nuts and bolts of writing a novel. While describing the development of character and plot, he said that the main character – and there should almost always be just one main character – must have a want and [...]

By |May 15th, 2023|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Success, Values, Writing|Comments Off on What we want, what we need

When Sour is Sweet

There were a few days in a row last week when I didn’t have any meetings or appointments, which is a fairly rare occurrence. Plus, we had several workers coming to the house to do repairs or give us service estimates, so we needed to stay close to home. It seemed like the perfect time to bake some sourdough bread. Although bread-baking – especially sourdough – got really popular during the COVID lockdown in 2020, I didn’t get into it until later, after I read [...]

By |May 8th, 2023|Columns, Values|Comments Off on When Sour is Sweet

Easter Memories

I had a doctor’s appointment Friday afternoon, and it was starting to rain just as I was leaving the doctor’s office. I looked at the time as I got in my car. It was a little after 2:00. This immediately took me back to when I was young, and we spent a fair amount of time in church during the Easter Triduum – the period of time between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday. The hours between noon and 3 o’clock on Good Friday were especially [...]

By |April 10th, 2023|Columns, Faith, Family, Holidays, Values|Comments Off on Easter Memories