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Yes, I am still in Vermont. I was originally planning on leaving last week, but then postponed my move to northern Maine to this week so that I could spend more time with my friends and also finish work on my new gunstock.
Since my epic ride last Thursday, I have thoroughly enjoyed my final days of living in Vermont by doing something I rarely do, and should do more of - partying. Since my last final exam ended on Tuesday afternoon, I've been using my last week in Vermont chilling with my friends from college. Many of them I won't see for some time - either because they are graduating, or will graduate before I return in two years.
Over the weekend, I drove down to Middlebury College to chill with a friend of mine who lived in Norway when I was there three years back. Those kids certainly know how to party. Beirut? Now it is no longer just some city in Lebanon… I also realize that I am entirely uncoordinated and that it is good that I chose biathlon rather than baseball as my sport. It was a good time, even if I am now officially delinquent.
The other project that has really kept me here in Vermont longer than I expected is the construction of my new rifle stock. Last fall, I somehow became convinced that all other gunstocks were inferior and that I, someone who is very unfamiliar with any sort of tool, could make a better one.
Finally, this spring, conveniently right before final exam week, I went to a specialty wood store and bought a block of mahogany. I was able to get some things cut out and a design sketched on the wood before my studying really kicked in for my final exams. Until this week, it just sat in the woodshop, owned by the guy I live with who used to make string instruments worth more than my life.
The project was resurrected late last week, and ever since, I have been busily taking progressively more and more off of the wood block. Today, I did a lot of work to the point where it now looks like a gunstock, though there is a lot of customizing, sanding, and finishing left to do, all of which will be done during my plentiful free time in Fort Kent.
Because a new tenant is overrunning my room on Friday afternoon, I have to leave early on Friday morning. It is the end of the line for me in Vermont for a while. Looking back on the past two years, I am happy that I chose this place to call home, for not only training and studying, but for living, too. Peering into the future, I am confident that I have made the right decision to pursue biathlon full-time, but in the distance I see Vermont waiting for me.
Peace,
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