Mary Novaria

NYT best-selling author Laura Munson (This is Not the Story You Think it Is...) opens up her blog to alums of her Haven Writing Retreat in Whitefish, Montana. She asked us to submit pieces about what it took to get ourselves to the retreat, what our blocks were, and how the retreat has informed future decision making when it comes to creating possibilities for ourselves in the field of our dreams.  The theme is:  I Gave Myself the Gift of a Haven Retreat. So Now What? You can find other entries and learn more about Haven  here . Walking Lightly Ranch, home of Haven Writing Retreat I left my shoes on the porch and stepped into the lodge feeling like a fraud. When I arrived at Haven I’d lost confidence in my words and in myself. The past five years had been a morass of caregiving for an aging mother and teenage daughter, both incapacitated by maladies that my words, written or spoken, just couldn’t fix. Although there’d been scant time and even less ener...

Near Walking Lightly Ranch, Whitefish MT In the East and Midwest, it’s sometimes so chilly in October that you have to wear a heavy jacket over your Halloween costume. On the other hand, I remember a Missouri heat wave that lasted until Election Day. It was 86 degrees in Santa Monica today—as much as 20 degrees hotter inland. So for all practical purposes it’s still summer. Maybe it’s always summer here...I don’t know yet; I’ve only lived here five weeks. It’s not Fall in Southern California. I mean, obviously, it’s Fall, or Autumn if you prefer, according to the calendar, but there are no obvious seasonal changes as far as I can tell. It’s green and warm—hot even—and I haven’t even thought about pumpkins, gourds or goblins. I did see a home in our neighborhood with cobwebs strewn about the yard, but I don’t think it was intentional. It’s pretty eclectic here.  By the way, palm trees do occasionally drop their leaves; when they do, it's "look out below!"...