The Final Countdown!

 Two weeks from today I will have essentially finished all of my responsibilities as an AmeriCorps VISTA for Montana FoodCorps! My time in Montana is quickly winding down, and I’m starting to take the time to reflect on what I've accomplished over the past twelve months.

It has been an incredibly long year, but I knew that it was going to be like this when I first moved out here. To cope with the isolation and loneliness that I knew would accompany life in small-town eastern Montana (and because I love goal-setting), I wrote three goals to complete by the end of my service; July 21, 2012.

These goals were:

1)      “Read all of the books that I should have already read.” This is fairly open-ended, but has provided great incentive for me to put down my mystery-thriller paperbacks in favor of real literature, and provided a little culture in a world that sometimes seems dominated by french fries and cowboys.

2)      “Finish writing a first draft of my novel.” I’ve been playing with a certain story in my head for the last ten years, and I decided that the fact that this story is still with me means that it needs to be written. My first draft simply requires a beginning, middle, end and basic coherence.

3)      “Learn to play the guitar well enough to justify buying an electric guitar.” I started learning to play the guitar in April, 2011 and decided that this is something I want to pursue. I love playing an instrument that people can sing along with, and making really loud rock ‘n roll music. Electric guitars are expensive, so I need to be more than a raw beginner to validate such an investment.

With the end in sight, I’m starting to examine how well I’ve done on these goals in the past 12 months. 

1)      My reading list:

The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand

Little Big Man- Thomas Berger

A River Runs Through It- Norman Maclean

Les Miserables- Victor Hugo

Hunchback of Notre Dame- Victor Hugo

20,000 Leagues under the Sea- Jules Verne

The Complete Writings of Mark Twain

Great Expectations- Charles Dickens

Bleak House- Charles Dickens

The Princess Bride- William Goldman

Complete Journals of Lewis and Clark

On the Road- Jack Kerouac

Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte

Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens

1Q 84- Haruki Murakami

The Audacity of Hope- Barack Obama

Three Musketeers- Alexandre Dumas

War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy

Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Rebecca- Daphne du Maurier

Around the World in 80 Days- Jules Verne

Gone with the Wind- Margaret Mitchell

Grapes of Wrath and other stories- John Steinbeck

Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy (pending completion)

This year, I reaffirmed my affection for Dickens and lack of enthusiasm for Twain. I was surprised to find that I enjoy Jules Verne and can tolerate the Russian authors better than expected. I confess that although we agree on absolutely nothing, I was reminded of how much I adore reading Ayn Rand. I prefer the movie to the novel ‘The Princess Bride,’ but reading ‘Les Miserables’ was enhanced by the fact that I’ve seen the Broadway show, and was probably my favorite read of the year. I will continue my reading in the coming year in North Powder.

2)      My novel: At present it is 70 pages and has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end, though no title. Although I have a monumental amount of work ahead of me before it will see the light of day, I am thrilled with the progress I’ve made. I love my characters, I’ve been entranced by this plot since the idea first occurred to me, and I’m excited to have finally figured out the ending. Work on this story will definitely continue.

 

3)      The guitar: I started the year with three months of basic lessons  under my belt and a folk songbook "borrowed" from my father. Although I can’t claim to be a good guitar player, I am no longer a raw beginner. I can crank out Elton John’s ‘Crocodile Rock,’ the Band’s ‘The Night they drove Old Dixie Down,’ and McLean’s ‘American Pie’ with competency and have been pushing myself to learn new and harder chords. I’m not ready to join a band, but I’m dying to hear how the Fine Young Cannibals’ ‘She Drives Me    Crazy’ sounds on an electric now that I’ve mastered it on acoustic. 

Though my novel still needs a title, I have 200 pages to go on ‘Anna Karenina’ and I have yet to master the rhythm of ‘Hit me With Your Best Shot,’ these goals have helped keep me busy, and I’m ready to start shopping for electric guitars. Retrospectively, I accomplished a lot this year, and not just for FoodCorps!