Purcellville, Virginia: Well, a new year is upon us and already the filming of Waterford's War seems to have taken place in another lifetime. I'm sure everyone's job, school and busy schedules took center stage, as mine did. For me, the further I get from a project, the more it has the potential to slip into that elusive dream-corner of my brain. Nevertheless, in these past months, I have been wondering about the editing progress of the movie since we stopped filming in November.

Last week I received an email from Meredith telling me to check out the new information on the website (www.waterfordswar.com), and it all came back. Wow. What a fun summer! Surfing the website was almost like looking back at your high school photographs, triggering the memories of a time when everything was in such sharp focus and every air particle seemed charged with anticipation.

I remembered the beautiful costumes crammed to the ceiling of Meredith's car, the musty smell of Clermont intensifying with the hot set lights, the mysterious skimming of dark shapes across the floor that we would catch in the corner of our vision, the sound of water dripping from the big old trees after a summer storm, the sweat-mopping, the laughter, the "family" atmosphere, the pizza and potato chip diet, the cavalry, the runaway horses, the nail-hammering, the extension cord navigations, the exuberance and the tears and everyone's hard work. What I remembered most, however, was that infectious electrical flow of creative energy that sparked around us in the face of such a challenge.

So, if you, too, have been wondering, a lot has been happening since we all parted ways. For one, Meredith has gone through the videos of each and every take and compiled a log book that includes her thoughts and ideas regarding the structure of each scene. Peter and Meredith have also spent countless hours in the editing room, the fruits of which I was invited to come and view.

I arrived at Peter's home studio on a chilly, but still unseasonably warm, morning, when they were already in full editing swing. There were two computer monitors running along with his 43" TV monitor. Peter explained the technicalities of their editing work to me. Quite fascinating! He works on an Apple G5 Dual 2.7 GHz computer, running Final Cut Pro 5.0.

Meredith explained that compiling the "rough cut" was only the first stage. After that, they still face voice-overs, sound effects, light and sound filtering and the addition of music. She also warned me that it might seem tedious and said that the first days she and Peter began, they both got bad headaches. "It's a lot to keep in your head," she said. With the foraging scene, for example, they are folding in takes from four different days.

As the scene on which they were working began to emerge, Meredith would do a little victory dance in her chair and say, "Oh, that's good," or vigorously rub her hands together or clap and say, "I'm lovin' it!" At the poignant end of the scene, she said, "That is beautiful," and by her wet eyes I could see that she meant it.

Contrary to Meredith's warning, I found the whole process fascinating and invigorating. Watching Meredith voice her ideas and Peter materialize them with his expertise and their mounting momentum and excitement, how could I not catch the bug?

As far as the soundtrack, Meredith also had big news: Nathan Chapman of Nashville will most likely be providing at least a few of the songs. Meredith said Nathan's wife, Stephanie, has been a friend since Stephanie was in high school and used to help with Meredith's productions. "She has the voice of an angel - Carol King meets Sheryl Crow. But she has an agent now, and we can't afford her! Nathan established a production studio down there. He has unbelievable guitar skills - on the level of Eric Clapton - and a beautiful voice, too." The Nashville couple is gaining rapid acclaim and they are also very familiar with Civil War music.

The editing continued to a new scene with comments from Peter and Meredith on a remarkable bit of acting, or the way a camera loves a face, or the way the light fell just so. They resumed making cuts and rearranging segments and Meredith said, "It's amazing what shaving off those half-seconds will do. You can shift the focus and give it a lot of energy when it gets tighter."

Although they still have a few small scenes and retakes to film, their goal is to have the rough cut version ready by March and the final by May.

At one point, Peter disappeared and returned with a tray of steaming mugs of Egyptian tea, and they invited me to sit in front of the TV screen and be the first to see the rough cut (so far) in its entirety. I was so impressed with it, even in this infancy stage of editing. I also found that seeing it triggered, once again, all those movie-making memories. I can't wait for everyone to see it.

In the end, as all that sweating and mosquito-smacking and waning-sunlight-lamenting starts to pay off and as those takes and re-takes begin to form into the silhouette of an emotional, beautiful and fluent film, I can't help but see a gem emerging from the mines. There's our story! It really worked! It was all worth it!

As we were leaving, after the four-hour time limit they have imposed on themselves to maximize productivity, Meredith said, "People ask me what Peter and I are getting out of this and I say, 'You never know what opportunity this might lead to.' "

Looking up at the sky as a cold January rain began to fall, I thought it's also because, in the end, we are all inclined and hopeful to do it again.