by Benjamin Pomerance

LAST YEAR, as the buildings on the old Milholland farm stood in ghostly silence, Mark Hayman received a text message from an awestruck parent. Their child, the parent stated, had spent the bulk of the summer confines in their bedroom, steadfastly practicing their string instrument. Each day, the schedule remained the same: four hours of work each morning, every hour divided into 50 minutes of playing followed by 10 minutes of rest. The afternoons followed a similarly disciplined regimen.

And every time their child plunged headlong into this painstakingly detailed musical immersion, doing so during the sunny days while their friends enjoyed the conventional pleasures of a youthful summer, the parent noticed that the child would hang a sign on their bedroom door. “Meadowmount in Progress,” it read.

Continue reading Lake Champlain Weekly: Meadowmount in Progress