­

About bettyliedtke

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far bettyliedtke has created 709 blog entries.

A New Look at the Theory of Relativity

It’s all relative. During the 18 years we lived in Minnesota, we drove to the Chicago area—where most of our relatives still lived—at least two or three times a year. It was a seven- or eight-hour drive, and made for a long day, especially when the kids were young and when winter weather was especially wintery. When we moved to Georgia seven years ago, our daughter was living in Florida. It was roughly an eight-hour drive to see her, and we never had to worry [...]

By |September 16th, 2024|Columns, Family, Quotes and Sayings, Travel|Comments Off on A New Look at the Theory of Relativity

A new candidate has a new agenda

During a visit with our daughter eight years ago, conversation turned to the coming election, and inspired a tongue-in-cheek column in which I appointed members of my family—myself included—to different government positions. Some of what I said is as relevant today as it was then, so I’m printing it again. I hope you enjoy it. The Department of Nice. That’s the federal agency I’m going to be in charge of after my daughter is elected president. My husband and I spent last weekend in Florida, [...]

By |September 8th, 2024|Columns, Family, Gifts and Talents, Making a Difference, Values|Comments Off on A new candidate has a new agenda

Time for a Change

Labor Day weekend is here. I no longer look at it as the end of the summer season, but as the start of the season of transitions. Kids and their parents are transitioning from summer to school. Depending on where you live, the weather is transitioning from unbearably hot and humid to—well, a little less so. And soon it will transition to comfortable, then to cool, to chilly, to cold, and finally to downright frigid. Trees start transitioning from their summer greenery to a more [...]

By |September 1st, 2024|Columns, Holidays|Comments Off on Time for a Change

A Summer Social

“I feel like I’m in a Norman Rockwell painting,” I said. The lady behind the counter, the one dishing out homemade peach ice cream, laughed. “Boy, that brings back memories,” she said. I was at an Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social sponsored by Eatonton’s Old School History Museum, whose tag line is “Preserving the past for the future.” When I first got to the event, I said hello to a friend who was handing out lemonade near the front door of the building. “Did you get [...]

By |August 25th, 2024|Columns, Values|Comments Off on A Summer Social

On the Road Again

Although we’ve been home for a few weeks now, I’m still humming the Simon & Garfunkel song that starts out, “Gee but it’s great to be back home.” After three weeks on the road and almost 4,000 miles on the odometer, it was, indeed, great to be back home. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. In the three weeks we were gone, my husband and I visited with family in Chicago and Minnesota, then drove down to Dallas for a convention, and finally [...]

By |August 9th, 2024|Columns, Family, Travel, Values|Comments Off on On the Road Again

I’ll see you in a few weeks!

It’s time for a summer break, and I’ll be taking a few weeks off from writing my blog. I hope you are able to stay cool in the sweltering heat of this summer. Have a wonderful 4th of July holiday, and please stay safe!  

By |June 30th, 2024|Uncategorized|Comments Off on I’ll see you in a few weeks!

One More Time

I had numerous feelings of déjà vu recently when my husband and I flew to Phoenix. From there we rented a car and drove to California to visit our daughter, then back to Phoenix to visit some friends there that we haven’t seen in a long, long time. The déjà vu kept popping up because this was the same itinerary we had last November, when we had to cancel our plans after learning that a tree fell on our house and punched a hole in [...]

By |June 22nd, 2024|Columns, Family, Travel, Values|Comments Off on One More Time

Travel Time

It’s been seven years since my husband and I moved to Georgia from Minnesota. The first summer we were here, both of our kids and their spouses came to visit over the 4th of July, and we all had a great time. In fact, our son said, “I know where we’ll be going every year for our summer vacation.” It didn’t turn out that way, however. By the next summer, our daughter-in-law was pregnant, and long-distance travel would have been uncomfortable at best. By the [...]

By |June 5th, 2024|Columns, Family, Holidays, Travel, Values|Comments Off on Travel Time

A Messy Situation

I met a friend for coffee and catch-up last week. At one point, she pulled out a pocket-sized notebook  to write herself a reminder for something she had to do later. “I just bought myself a fancy new notebook,” she told me, “but whenever I need to write myself a note, this is the one I always use.” She added that she doesn’t want to “mess up” her new notebook with notes and scribbles. She wants whatever she writes in it to be perfect. We [...]

By |May 21st, 2024|Columns, Family, Values, Writing|Comments Off on A Messy Situation

I see the light!

“Follow the light.” Those were the instructions given to me as I got ready for my first cataract surgery. And frankly, it made me nervous for a moment—just long enough to remember all the movies and stories in which someone died, or had a near-death experience, with a bright light beckoning them to the other side. I wasn’t really nervous about the surgery—not too much, anyway. Since the time I found out I needed it, I’ve talked to a number of people who’ve had it [...]

By |May 7th, 2024|Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on I see the light!