I'm blowing off the dust from my keys this morning. I have landed and settled into the rolling rural landscape of Western Massachusetts. Since we don't get any phone reception in our strangely quaint yet utilitarian lodgings, I'v been pretending to be unreachable. So I'll pretend once again that I just discovered that we had free access to internet this entire time.

I spent this past week and a half getting acclimated to my new rural Massachusetts existence. I'm doubly immersing. I'm immersing myself in Berkshire foothill life, all the while riding a train to Kentucky during the rehearsal hours.

Speaking of rehearsal, we are in the heart of rehearsing our first of three plays, and we start a read-through of play number two on Monday. The first play is a two-character play, or a two-hander. So the air in our shared apartment is charged with deep concentration and slight brain fatigue as we struggle to learn our lines. It's safe to say that I am apprehensive and exhilarated by the notion of rehearsing two plays at a time.

But it hasn't been all work and no play. Since my arrival, we've had a nice sit-down dinner with our grill-master of a director. We've spent a lazy evening at he Dream-Away lodge listening to Appalacha-inspired music, picnicked and kayaked at Spectator pond, and karaoke'd at the biker bar next door.

Although I recognize the need to put more effort into maintaining ties with the outside world, it's awfully tempting to put life on hold as I roll through this summer.