Columns – FindYourBuriedTreasure

Many Sides of Easter

Easter is such a wonderful and important holiday for so many reasons. First and foremost, of course, is the religious significance for everyone who celebrates the resurrection of Christ, which is the basis for all Christian faiths. It’s also a fun and colorful family day, with a weekend that often includes Easter egg hunts for children, photos with the Easter bunny, and Easter baskets filled with chocolate bunnies, Peeps, and other goodies. For adults, Easter baskets can have samples of the foods that will be [...]

By bettyliedtke|April 4th, 2026|Columns, Faith, Family, Holidays|Comments Off

American Food for Thought

Hamburgers or hot dogs. Which food would you say is more American? How about peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese? Apple pie or chocolate chip cookies? These were some of the decisions I had to make—along with my three teammates—at a recent training session for upcoming school field trips to the Georgia Writers Museum, where I’m an active volunteer. The project wasn’t really about food, however. It was about discussion, debate, and decision-making. It was about the voting process. The preparations were in advance [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 4th, 2026|Accountability, Columns, Making a Difference, Respect, Values|Comments Off

Reflections and Resolutions

New Year’s Day is a celebration of new beginnings. Ash Wednesday begins a season of sacrifice. Yet both have something in common for me, and they involve thoughtful planning and reflection. Anyone who has read my columns or blogs for any length of time knows I still make New Year’s Resolutions every year. I give some thought to them, and try to come up with resolutions I can actually keep. Whether I really do is another story, of course, but I give it my best [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 18th, 2026|Accountability, Columns, Faith, Holidays, Values|Comments Off

The real thing?

It used to be easy to tell when you were talking on the phone to a robot or recording. The choppy, sloppy wording—or the monotonous voice telling you to listen carefully because the menu has changed—was a dead giveaway that it wasn’t a live person on the other end of the line. But no more. Although AI—artificial intelligence—has been around and in use for longer than most of us realize, it seems that it’s only recently that it’s become a big deal—and found virtually (no [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 6th, 2026|Columns, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Warm Wishes

Between meetings and events, doctor’s appointments, and other activities, I’ve usually got at least five to ten items listed on my calendar each week. But whether it was divine intervention and timing or dumb luck—I’m going to assume the former—I had only three commitments last week, and all of them were via Zoom. Which means I could go all week without leaving the house. Not that I normally would have actually stayed home all week. But last week, it was a blessing. Like much of [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 31st, 2026|Columns, Family|Comments Off

Bingo!

I got several comments last week on my blog post about New Year’s Resolutions. One of them was from a friend who—like me—still makes New Year’s Resolutions every year. She said she believes that winter is a time to rest, but also a time when the world is preparing to bloom again, and that taking small steps every day to reach her big dreams keeps her moving in the right direction. She also told me about something she made last year that I think is [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 9th, 2026|Accountability, Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Holidays|Comments Off

Dream Big!

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll be among the stars.” “If I didn’t try to do twice as much as I could, I wouldn’t accomplish half as much as I do.” I’ve always been inspired by these quotes, and I think they’re especially valuable as we make our New Year’s Resolutions. That is, those of us who still do. I heard on the radio the other day that only 30% of Americans still make New Year’s Resolutions, although I don’t know where [...]

By bettyliedtke|January 1st, 2026|Accountability, Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings, Success|Comments Off

Gifts from the Heart

At my writers group’s holiday party, one of our members shared a story from her days as a 2nd grade teacher back in the mid-1980s. It was about the last day of school before Christmas vacation, when a shy young student stayed behind after everyone else had left the classroom. The little girl apologized that she hadn’t been able to get a gift for her teacher as the other kids had done. She explained that her mother said they couldn’t afford it. But the girl [...]

By bettyliedtke|December 19th, 2025|Columns, Holidays, Values|Comments Off

Southern Northern Lights

During her Scandinavian vacation last Spring, our daughter sent us photos from Sweden of the Northern Lights. I thanked her, and told her that was probably the closest I’d ever get to seeing the Northern Lights. I was wrong. I still haven’t seen them in person, but our son sent us photos of the Northern Lights from his home in Minnesota when they were visible there a few weeks ago. One picture included a stunning red backdrop for their house and yard, newly decorated with [...]

By bettyliedtke|November 24th, 2025|Columns, Family|Comments Off

A Law of Motion—and Writing

Part of Newton’s First Law of Motion—which I’m paraphrasing—states that a body in motion will remain in motion, and a body at rest will remain at rest, until acted upon by another force. I’m planning to use that as my legal defense. Not that my body has been at rest. But my blog has. My last post said that I was going to take a summer break and be off-line for a few weeks. That was on July 1. Obviously, a few weeks turned into [...]

By bettyliedtke|October 13th, 2025|Accountability, Columns, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off

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