GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
And welcome to CoffeeBreak. This is the stand-in for Daybreak until Aug. 23. It will mostly be a playful little diversion until the grownup version returns.But it's impossible to launch a lighthearted CoffeeBreak in the wake of the tragic and untimely death of Brian Boland in Thursday's ballooning accident. If you ever visited the Post Mills Airport—as many of us did time and again—you got a sense of his whimsical, romping, adventurous approach to life. "Anything that Brian touches is quirky and inspired and inevitably unconventional," Doug Tifft wrote in an email earlier this year. Boland was remarkably generous with this gift, sharing his knowledge, enthusiasm, and idiosyncrasies with people not just here, but all across the country—and inspiring countless people who never knew him to look upward and dream. He leaves an incalculable hole.So to start things off, here's a roundup of Boland reading:
As she so often manages to do, the Valley News's Anna Merriman lets the people caught up in calamitous events tell their stories—in this case turning to Norwich's Roger Blake, one of the passengers in the balloon, for the most detailed and personal version of what happened in all the coverage out there.
In Sidenote, Li Shen remembers and celebrates Boland, his ballooning career, his place in Thetford and Post Mills, and his intrepid approach to obstacles and rules.
Over the years, Jim Block photographed Boland and the airport several times, and pays tribute on his blog.
"To me, Brian was a Captain Kirk figure, seeking out new art and artifacts for his Museum from the air, searching for unusual parts of the world from on high, finding new ways to bring ballooning to others, and always reaching higher into the atmosphere," writes Dave Celone on his personal blog. Dave lives a couple of houses from the airport, and writes about Boland, his museum, his exploits, and his most recent project: a diner that would appear as if a bus had driven through it.
But after all, you signed up for CoffeeBreak, not the news. So here's what to expect over the next few weeks: In general, you'll see a mix of some of my favorite items from past Daybreaks... Like, oh, this one from way back near the beginning:From over by Nashua, a little reminder why you should never text and drive. Seriously. Through a parking lot, over a snowbank, across a gas station, into a gas pump, which lands on the car. Driver cited for "use of a mobile electronic device." ...and new material, like this:You know how somewhere in your attic or basement you've got a box of old Legos sitting around? Well, there's an app for that. Seriously. Brickit lets you dump your bricks out and spread them around, then tells you what you can build with them—and even provides blueprints. Right now it's only available in iOS, but they say an Android version's coming. Or this...Remember the "heat dome" out west back at the end of June? Well, in Vancouver, a mom bear and her cubs found their way to this guy's swimming pool to cool off, learn to swim, and play a little Marco Polo.
Plus, of course, a reminder that whatever the circumstances, the world needs music...
...and to take to the air, even if it's indoors. Tarek Rammo & Kami-Lynne Bruin are Netherlands-based circus artists with, among other things, some serious duo straps skills. This is an elegant, lyrical act set to French composer Yann Tiersen's equally beautiful "Porz Goret." If you've seen Amélie or Good Bye, Lenin, you know Tiersen's work. That's it for today. See you Wednesday.
Daybreak Where You Are: The Album. Photos of daybreak and sunsets around the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the US, sent in by readers.
Want to catch up on Daybreak music during the break?
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Banner by Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael