Moonberry Lake
The place you’ve always longed for.
Stories that invite you home.
Are you looking for A Moment With Martha from her column in the morning newspaper?
Click the buttons below to read or listen!
I’m Holly Varni. I’m thrilled to introduce you to the fictional town and world of Moonberry Lake. Tucked away in the beautiful North Woods of Minnesota, Moonberry Lake reminds you of a simpler time, yet the struggles and drama revealed will feel similar to today. You’ll hopefully find something familiar in the quirky characters that speak to you and make you smile.
Order My New Book!
Listen to the Podcast
Listen to my podcast, Moments from Moonberry Lake. This is where you’ll find all the Moments with Martha! Click one of the titles below to listen to the most recent episodes. Or, click the “More Stories” button below to view all the episodes.
From the Blog
Click on an image below to read more stories and blog posts.
Recent Articles
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
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
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
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
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...
Baby Shower
What many pairs of baby shoes represents
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...
Gaining Weight
Gaining weight in old age.
Please Open Your Eyes When Cutting My Hair
One of the down sides to moving, is replacing all the professionals in your previous life. Dentist, doctors, hair stylist. The last isn’t that important to men, but for women, it is. I took my mother’s advice to look for a woman whose hairstyle I liked, and then go up...
The Other Side of the Leap
“The difference between what we fear and what we want, is the width of an eyelash.” -Maggie Smith We did it. We made the leap. We moved far away from where we had lived. Not only in miles, but in culture, politics, weather, and landscape. It’s a new life. We left the...
Realizing that I’m Wilbur
Saying goodbye is never easy. It’s an emotional, heart-tugging experience that leaves you feeling somewhat lost. Almost as if an empty space opens up inside you, and you can physically feel the absence of the people you’re leaving. We meet, get to know, and then leave...
Memories in the mess
It’s an interesting thing to try to sell your home. There’s a process. I did the obvious and cleaned out the closets, removed clutter, tidied up until everything looked spacious and sparkly. Then our realtor came through with a different pair of eyes. Ones that were...