Betty's Blog

To Make You Think Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books in a futuristic American city. In Montag’s world, firemen start fires rather than put them out. The people in his society do not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations. Instead, they drive very fast, watch excessive amounts of television on wall-size sets, and listen to the radio on “Seashell Radio” sets attached to their ears. Sounding familiar yet? Ray Bradbury was prescient. He wrote "Fahrenheit 451" SIXTY years ago! He wrote it to warn us about totalitarianism... "Big Brother"-style government. Most people don't read books anymore when you look at the population as a whole. Most people don't enjoy nature or spend time by themselves. Only a very few think independently. Have you heard a meaningful conversation lately? Lots of people do drive too fast and watch way too much tv on big-screen, wall-size sets. ...

Spirits! I was on my way home just now and couldn't find anything to listen to on the radio. That is, until I found a station playing polkas. Listening to polka music on the car radio used to be an every Sunday event when you were with my dad. So lately, I've been watching "Long Island Medium" and I'm thinking to myself, I wonder if my dad knows I'm listening to polkas and thinking about him? When we first moved back home and bought our grandfather's house, I always felt that my grandmother was with me whenever I made improvements like new wallpaper or new shades or curtains. I like to think she was guiding my choices. When my sisters and I were looking through our sister Patsy's belongings after she was killed in the plane crash, we felt her presence when we found a letter she had written to her son before she left on her trip. We opened it and read it. It was a goodbye letter... she knew she wasn't coming back! When our baby was...

November 2013 Exactly!... what's the point? Holidays come. Holidays go. Yah, if I had little kids at home, I might do more, but not anymore. It's a good day if i can get a tree put up and decorated before the 24th! i'll tell you when it all started. there has been a lighting contest every year with the winners getting cash prizes. i decided that i was going to be a shoo-in for first place! so, twenty years ago, i went all out. i bought a set of those big plastic light-up nativity figures. i got a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood and some straw bales. i spent many hours figuring out wiring. i set this all up underneath our weeping mulberry which is a very remarkable looking tree. i spent many, many MORE hours festooning that tree with six dozen small red velvet bows. it was awesomely beautiful! however, they didn't let anyone know WHEN they were going to judge. so, of course, the one night that they picked to judge was a night that i didn't get home until l...

X-cited about Xmas A lot of people have complained that stores are pushing Christmas too early. I agree! I refuse to play any Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I think people should at least have a chance to digest their turkey before hearing carols! And the old prunes who complain about the use of the word "Xmas" should just take a pill! They say that using Xmas is taking "Christ" out of "Christmas". Not so! It turns out that the “X” is actually indicating the Greek letter “Chi”, which is short for the Greek, meaning “Christ”. So “Xmas” and “Christmas” are equivalent in every way except their lettering. In fact, one time, it was a very popular practice, particularly with religious scribes, who are thought to have started the whole “Xmas” thing in the first place. Indeed, the practice of using the symbol “X” in place of Christ’s name has been going on among religious scholars for at least 1000 years. Eventually, this shorthand trick spr...