Sunday

A week ago Sunday (June 20th) was a hard day at work. Not only was the temperature in the grill about a hundred degrees, turning McDonald's into an oven by which all its employees were to be cooked; and not only was it one of the busiest days we've had this summer-but that morning a shockwave hit this corporate oven with ripples that reverberated throughout the entire community.

At around seven in the morning, the manager on duty received a call. There had been a car accident...and one of our employees had been killed. Pause. I had never seen this manager so distraught. A chorus of "oh my God's" rang through the building along with "I don't know what to do," and "she was so young..."

I didn't necessarily know this employee very well. I did work with her almost every day though, so the thought that she's gone and she is never coming back, that I just saw her on Thursday and now on Sunday she's dead made me very upset. What I have noticed in the week following the accident is how this small community of the Lyndonville area has banded together over this tragedy. During my time at high school there were two student deaths. I have noticed the same residual effect with this tragedy. Everyone at one time, even people who may not like each other in this tiny place, can be filled with the same type of understanding and love. Everyone in this area talks about the accident. The place where it occurred has now become almost sacred...

So there I was in this over of overflowing emotion. My actor's gift/curse of absorbing other's emotions took over. On my break I sat with Pete in the McDonald's parking lot and cried. It wasn't the first, and it probably won't be the last time I'll cry in my uniform.

The thing is...everyone else was crying too.

Peace out.

The 100th Post!

Yes folks, this is the 100th post of the not-so-well-known "My Life In Progress." I just want to thank all of you out there who are reading this (who basically is Megan, Velvet, Ashley, Jake, and friends who happen to find it on facebook), but I'm finding blogging to be an amazing outlet for not only creativity, but also a place to just share my thoughts on life and any troubles going on in the moment. It's a place to unleash things that have been plaguing my mind. But also it's a place to share adventures, crazy stories, and moments of love and inspiration. Thank you to all of you who have been and continue to read, post comments, and share your own feelings on your own blogs.

There's no way I'm stopping now! Here's to another 100 posts and then some!

Peace out!

To-Do Day!

With Megan off partying with Ashley in Cape Cod (Hope you guys are having fun!), I have decided that the next couple of days are going to be To-Do Days. UPDATE BLOG was one of the first things to do on my list which includes cleaning my room and making cookies for Jake (it's his birthday week). So, here I am!

Oh! So Megan introduced me to this "black gum" the other night when I went to visit her at Kinney Drugs (where she works) and to give her a letter to give to Ashley when she sees her. Anyway, she gave me a piece of this new kind of 5 gum (I forget what the flavor is called). First of all, it's delicious and second of all, it's black (like Velvet so you know it's gotta be good!). I highly reccommend it.

Now, on a completely separate note, (actually, maybe a change of key) The Balsams hotel was built in 1895 in Dixville Notch, NH. Back in the day it was a halfway point of hospitality between two different towns across the notch from each other where folks could park their carriages and gossip while smoking cigars. Basically, it's a castle in the mountains. And that's where my grandparents took out whole family for brunch this past Sunday.

It was a very dressy place so after my attempt at being fancy, we all had a very nice meal together although I thought the dessert was the best part. Bread pudding made of homemade raised doughnuts? Whoopies pies? YES!!!

To tell you the truth, the whole place sort of reminded me of the Patrick Swayze movie "Dirty Dancing" with the paddleboats on the lake and planned activities, especially when the recreation director gave us a tour and showed us the "crew housing" where they apparently have their own dance floor. That was pretty cool, but I don't think I had the time of my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQo

It was a very fun and fancy time although after everything my parents and I had to have a Howland moment and go hiking in the notch.

I was rock jumping and I stuck my whole foot in the stream. Maybe I did have the time of my life...

Peace out!

Quartet

"The Clean Shaves," "The Sick Pups," and "Plaid:" all possible names for this quartet I have started singing with this summer. Last night we had another rehearsal which went fabulously so we began planning our first gig which will hopefully be open mic night at Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury on July 9th. At least, that's what we're planning. The only things we need are more rehearsals, and a name.

I'm really happy I joined this group. And while our repertoire is entirely barbershop, we're having an awesome time. It's also a great way to keep my voice up during the summer, and in fantastic shape for the musical which begins rehearsing soon. (On another note, I've been promoted in the play apparently and given a bigger part. Not that I didn't love the part I had before, but now I get my own solo song, which you can imagine makes me VERY excited.)

Another wicked awesome plus to this group is its director: Mrs. Fields. Mrs. Fields was, and still remains, the strictest teacher I've ever had. She was the director and teacher of the Select Choral Ensemble at Lyndon Institute when Megan and I were both members. Both of us were in Select Ensemble from our Sophomore through our Senior years. We did so much with that group. So many trips, concerts, rehearsals, recordings, and fun/hard times. And Mrs. Fields was there the whole way. She pushed us extremely hard to be the best and to challenge ourselves to create a team that could succeed at anything we put our minds to. She taught me how to be a performer and a leader, and I am forever grateful for everything she has given me. And though there were moments when Megan and I thought Mrs. Fields was absolutely insane, and times when we were pushed to our absolute breaking point, I think we can both look back now and see how things would never have been the same without her. You can imagine my excitement and joy as last night Mrs. Fields, her husband Ross (who is the tenor in the quartet), and I rocked out to Glee's Don't Stop Believin' over Pete's (in case you've forgotten, my dad's car) stereo system. We harmonized together! I'm so happy to be working with her again, and this quartet really is going to be awesome.

We just need a name...any ideas?

Peace out!

Hot Air Balloon

Yesterday this really cool hot air balloon flew over my house. When I say "over," I mean like directly above my house and trees.

It was awesome. We waved to everyone on board and said a quick "Hello!" as they flew on by.

Peace out!

Meg Ryan's NEK Adventures Part 2

The adventures continue! On Memorial Day Megan, my parents, and I went on an epic hike through a beautiful part of the NEK. The day began with a crazed run-around with my parents in which Megan got to see what a day with my family is like. Basically it consisted of my dad yelling about how we were wasting (or burning, in his words) daylight because we slept in until 11 o'clock in the morning. After a wonderful breakfast of bagels with cream cheese and chocolate chip cookies, we piled into two cars and headed out. We parked Megan's car at the end of the CCC Road at Lake Willoughby which according to my dad was a road built during the Depression. We parked my beloved Pete (the name I have thoroughly given to my dad's car, and the car I drive with my license) at the top of the road and started the hike.

It really was a beautiful hike and despite having a stick stab through my shoe, it was almost perfect. Until we took a couple (A LOT) of wrong turns. My dad got us lost, basically. He thought the yellow signs on the trees with arrows were the correct way. Instead, those arrows are the snowmobile trails. So, instead of bringing us to Megan's car at the end of the road, we were getting farther and farther away. We came to this body of water that apparently is called Lost Pond. (I know, I liked it too!)

We did not have to end up setting up camp and rubbing sticks for fire however. We came across a family who had passed by us awhile back on the trail in a truck. We found their truck abandoned on the trail later on because the road had been blocked. After walking around Lost Pond, we found them coming back because they too had gone the wrong way. After a hike back around the pond through mud and past snake holes, we got a ride to the correct trail in the back of the random family's pickup truck.

After a long hike, we finally made it back to the car. It was another wild Vermont NEK adventure, and one of the best trips ever! Thank you to the awesome family who helped us out! Megan and I want to bring Velvet and Ashley on this road sometime, mostly because we think it would be funny to all get lost together.

Peace out!

Meg Ryan's Epic NEK Adventures

And then life goes on...

Vermont really is a beautiful state. This past year at school has really shown me just what an amazing location I live in. The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont is a gorgeous place with amazing natural beauty, wonderful (though there are some sketchies out there) people, an astounding sense of community, and a rural majesty that is a breeding ground for pure art. Jeez, I feel like I'm writing a tourist brochure...but it's all true!

Anyway, the reason why I've been thinking about all of this is because recently Megan and I have been taking quite a few summer adventures through our beloved NEK. I thought I would share them, and the pictures that go along with them, with you. Last week, our adventures began with a beach trip to Willoughby Lake on Tuesday, both of us still somewhat reeling from the Lost finale on Sunday. After packing a quick picnic lunch at my grandparent's house, we set off. The water, however, turned our toes to popsicles so we decided to just lie on the beach instead. This resulted in a nasty sunburn on my back which is now in the itchy stage. Imagine that while slaving over a hot grill at McDonald's...

Anywho, we decided to extend the trip into a beach-hopping, lake-skipping journey. We took a side road that brought us to Long Pond. Little did we know that this side road would turn into an extremely narrow dirt path. This trail eventually did lead us to Newark Pond Road, a location we've been meaning to explore for quite some time now. Leave to Vermont to have all of its back roads connect in the most unlikely places.

After driving past gorgeous Newark Pond, we found our way to Job's Pond. We've been to Job's Pond before, and have dubbed it our NEK "spot", but never with our cameras. As you can see, this time we were prepared.

Well, Megan was prepared. I just used my phone.

A further trip down this road brought us to East Haven, VT, a town that can only be reached by Route 5 or back dirt roads as we had found it. Leaving East Haven we eventually made our way to Island Pond, VT, a town and a body of water. Obviously this pond is named accordingly.

While attempting to avoid Canada (because neither of us had our passports, we would have liked to go to Canada), we continued our excursion northward towards Morgan, VT and Seymour Lake. Here we finally found a suitable beach. The water was actually manageable to swim in and we found some nice minnows to hang out with. They ate us. It was fun. I also found a bright white rock and a dark rock in the sand next to each other. It reminded me of Jacob and MIB, so I took them.


The road before us was amazing as we made our way towards Derby Line, VT where we hoped to catch the interstate back down to Lyndonville. Derby Line, however, is a tricky town. It is right on the border of Canada so while traveling here you have to be extremely careful not to accidentally cross over into the land of bacon and hockey. It's not easy. This is the town where I am working on a play this summer, though, so it was good to get the lay of the land (not like I haven't been here before, but it was nice to explore). Although, we did miss the turn to the interstate because we were scared it went to Canada. We got caught on another back road but fortunately we found (okay, Megan found...) another road that brought us back so we could eventually pick the interstate up in Derby (not Derby Line, there's a difference there...). It was beautiful country, though.




Peace out!