From the Blog

with Holly Varni

A Moment with Martha
Drama

Drama

I’ve been thinking a lot about the drama I have voluntarily invited into my life. What makes it even more ridiculous is that it’s not even real, which I suppose is worse and makes me appear bonkers. The only redeeming thing I can say about my state of sanity is that...

Surrendering the Battle

Surrendering the Battle

Well, I’ve given up. I’m throwing in the towel. At my age, one must give up many things, but on this particular day, I’m voluntarily and wholeheartedly giving up the idea of ever having a nice garden and landscape. For my entire adult life, I’ve fiddle-faddled and...

Gathering Up My Marbles

Gathering Up My Marbles

The mind is a precious thing. The older you become, the more valuable it is deemed. You can be the most forgetful person when you’re young, and people will say that you’re just distracted and have ADD. For those of you not familiar with that acronym, it stands for...

Gossip

Gossip

My pastor challenged everyone at church to try to go a week without gossiping. Easy enough, I thought. It won’t be a problem for me. Gossip is such a nasty thing, and as the good Book teaches, I hold my tongue and stay far away from it. It’s never been an issue for...

Egret

Egret

I passed an egret standing in the middle of a field the other day, looking properly out of place. It was quite a sight, considering there is no water source nearby. The little guy had to be lost or perhaps decided to take a detour and go exploring. Either way, every...

Dandelions

Dandelions

As a child, one of my greatest delights was to stumble upon a field or neglected yard full of dandelions. The bright marigold yellow flowers were a free gift waiting to be plucked by the fistful to bring to my mother, who would put them into a glass jelly jar. I’d rub...

In the Back of the Fridge

In the Back of the Fridge

Another friend of mine passed away. It shouldn’t come as a surprise when you reach my age, but nevertheless, it somehow always does. There’s sadness, disbelief, and then, to protect our fragile hearts, acceptance, which is accompanied with the consolation that my...

Aging

Aging

I’m not a fan of moments that catch me by surprise. I was looking at my husband the other morning as he was reading the newspaper and nearly jumped back by how old he’s gotten. At first, I did a double take and thought, “Good grief, who is that elderly stranger...