GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Reminder: No Daybreak Monday.Yesterday's Arctic front was just the first of several. In other words, it's going to be cold for a bit. So today, although we get lots of sunshine, the cold air wins: It'll most likely stay in the single digits all day. But hey, at least the winds will be light. These cloudless skies come at a cost, though: Down into the minus teens tonight. Winds today from—you guessed it—the north. Winter, three ways:
The fine laciness of ice, from Annemieke McLane in Strafford;
Snow waves on Lake Sunapee at sunrise, from Julian Devlin;
And the long, scenic view in Hartford, from Janice Fischel.
"Did you hear that?" "It's just an owl, Eddie." It's Lost Woods, Week 60, and Auk and Eddie discover the joys of camping. Both inside and outside. As he does every Friday in this spot, Lebanon author and illustrator DB Johnson chronicles the doings in his favorite patch of trees. Hit the back arrow to catch up on previous weeks or to head right back to the beginning.“So many people have it, you can assume that everyone has it." With Covid cases spiking and DHMC's ICU severely strained, The Dartmouth's Noah Durham checks in with two docs at the hospital, pulmonologist David Feller-Kopman and epidemiologist Justin Kim. “I would estimate over 90% of the patients who are in the ICU and on ventilators...are unvaccinated,” Feller-Kopman says. Kim calls the surge of patients and simultaneous D-H staffing shortages a "twin-demic," and adds, "COVID-19 case counts are not likely to get worse, but they will likely be slow to improve over the next few weeks."NH aims to boost rural mental health workforce with D-H grant. Roughly a quarter of the staff at community mental health centers turns over every year, NHPR's Gabriela Lozada reports, and it can take up to 130 days to replace them. The result is chronic under-staffing in rural areas. To try to fill that gap, NH is funding a three-year, $1.4 million effort to train mental health workers and community members—including teachers, school nurses, and counselors—who can step in as needed. The grant covers Grafton, Sullivan, Cheshire, Coos, Carroll, and Belknap counties.SPONSORED: How climate change stacked up in 2021. In six charts. Rising global temps, a record number of records, heat and cold where they definitely do not belong... The story isn't pretty, but the charts paint a clear picture: Climate change is coming at us faster than ever. Check out the charts at the maroon link, and see if they don't convince you that now is the time to act. Visit the Solaflect Energy website, call (802) 649-3710, or text (802) 308-3018 to learn more. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy.638-bed grad student apartment complex to open early—but first, those beds will go to undergrads. The Summit on Juniper complex on Mt. Support Road wasn't due to open up until later this year, but construction is ahead of schedule, Dartmouth News reports. However, grad students will have to wait until August to move in, since the college is expecting very high undergrad enrollment in the spring due to "enrollment irregularities caused by the ongoing pandemic"—and starting in March will move upper-level undergrads into two of the buildings in the complex. Shuttles will run from there to campus.Hiking Close to Home: Stage Road access to the Appalachian Trail. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance recommends this great winter hiking option—the trailhead has a small plowed parking area located .7 miles past Suicide Six in Pomfret. The snowshoe or spike hiking is wonderful in both directions, but the southern route has more elevation gain and a beautiful winter view at about 1.5 miles. The northern route is lovely, but heavier snow may force you back early at a sometimes-impassable side-slope section. You’ll find this trailhead by expanding the map at the “directions” tab; look for Stage Road in Pomfret.Been paying attention this week? The guys who run The News Quiz have some questions for you. Like, how much did Dorothy Byrne donate to Dartmouth and DHMC to get a new cancer research center off the ground? And why has Hartford closed its finance office? And what damaged the Sayre Bridge in Thetford? You'll find those and others at the maroon link.Defending 2017 voting law cost NH taxpayers $4 million. As the legislature gears up to consider an effort by GOP lawmakers to ensure same-day voting registrants meet domicile requirements—a measure that may face legal challenges if passed—AG John Formella has reported the cost of the state's losing battle to defend an earlier law, known as SB3. The NH Supreme Court declared that law unconstitutional, which gave the plaintiffs the right to reimbursement for legal costs: $3.4 million all told, reports Garry Rayno in InDepthNH. For its part, the state paid outside counsel $800K.The problem with VT's "test-at-home" strategy: not enough tests. In an effort to relieve the Covid testing pressure on schools, the state earlier this month switched strategies, instructing schools to stop contact tracing and testing, and instead provide rapid tests to unvaccinated students who've been in contact with peers who test positive. But "school districts are finding that it requires a far greater supply of rapid tests" than the earlier strategy, reports VTDigger's Peter D'Auria. And schools are running out of tests. "Co-ops are in the DNA of the state of Vermont. You get together with your neighbors and you do what needs to be done." The state has food co-ops, dairy co-ops, electric co-ops, credit unions (which are co-ops)... it even once had a maple co-op and a freeze locker co-op. On VPR's Brave Little State, reporter Howard Weiss-Tisman—who, um, was once general manager of the Putney Food Co-op—delves into co-ops' history in the state, visits the oldest continuously operating food co-op in the country (in Adamant), and looks into one of the state's newest co-ops, at a mobile home park in Hyde Park.Want a VT rooting interest in the Winter Olympics? There are plenty of options. Biathletes Susan Dunklee, Jake Brown, and Deedra Irwin; xc skiers Jessie Diggins and Ben Ogden; snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis; freestylers Megan Nick and Hannah Soar; alpine skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle... As team rosters fill out, the Free Press has brief bios of a host of Vermont-based and Vermont-connected athletes who'll be competing in Beijing.Follow a Vermonter’s quest for fastest-ever Long Trail hike. One morning last July, a few feet from the Canadian border, Ben Feinson of Richmond set out to hike the length of the Long Trail faster than anyone’s ever done. It was officially a “supported” hike, which allows for food drops, pacing support, and other help from crew members. Seven Days’ Sally Pollak previews a new documentary about Feinson’s journey, aptly called “Supported,” combining GoPro footage from the trail with candid interviews of those who helped their friend push through and achieve his dream. Once people moved out, these polar bears made themselves at home. A children’s book just aching to happen: Set in the far reaches of the Russian Arctic on a small island dotted with the derelict structures of a meteorological station, it features a little community of polar bears living like royalty. We already have the images: Russian photographer Dmitry Kokh stumbled on the enterprising bears while on an expedition and captured them going about their business in the last place he expected to find them. My Modern Met has a sampling of Kokh’s work. The bears are glad you stopped by for a visit.First, you fill a 5-gallon bucket with water on a freezing cold night... Have you ever driven by a house on a winter's night and seen the warm glow of candles encased in ice? It's not that hard to do! Tonight and the next few nights are going to be perfect (ideally, you want temps of 10°F or below). And thanks to Norwich's Janet Hardy, here's a handy recipe with a master's details (keep the bucket away from buildings, vehicles, and trees, and make sure there's some insulation below)... Link takes you to a page with a PDF link—just hit that link and before you know it your neighbors will be asking, "How'd you do that?"
And the numbers...
Dartmouth climbs above 700 again. The college's dashboard yesterday reported 613 active undergrad cases (+35 since Tuesday), 68 among grad and professional students (+10), and 67 among faculty/staff (+6). There have been 1,067 combined new cases among students over the previous seven days, as well as 129 among faculty/staff. 520 students are isolating on campus, 161 are isolating off-campus, and 74 faculty/staff are in isolation.
NH reported 595 new cases Wednesday and 2,461 yesterday, bringing its total to 254,715. There were 37 deaths reported over that time, bringing the total to 2,123. The state reports 20,026 active cases (-19 since Tuesday) and 411 (+2) hospitalizations. NH tallies 1,407 (+65) active cases in Grafton County, 538 (+18) in Sullivan, and 2,195 (+89) in Merrimack. In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 533 (+49), Claremont has 195 (+5), Lebanon has 142 (-10), New London has 81 (-13), Newport has 96 (+7), Haverhill has 70 (+8), Sunapee has 48 (-4), Grantham has 54 (+4), Canaan has 48 (no change), Charlestown has 47 (+4), Enfield has 38 (-3), Plainfield has 38 (+3), Newbury has 22 (+1), Orford has 17 (-1), Grafton has 19 (+2), Rumney has 15 (no change), Warren has 9 (-2), Springfield has 8 (-1), Cornish has 8 (-1), Wilmot has 11 (+2), Lyme has 7 (no change), and Piermont, Wentworth, Dorchester, Orange, Croydon, and Unity have 1-4 each.
VT is having data problems again and reported only partial numbers yesterday: 1,344 new cases Wednesday and 1,115 yesterday, bringing its total to 94,607. It crossed the 500 mark on deaths, with 8 deaths over the last two days; they're now at 507. As of yesterday, 115 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (after hitting 122 Wednesday), with 27 of them (+1) in the ICU. On Wednesday, Windsor County had seen 41 new cases added since the day before, for a total of 6,220 for the pandemic and 883 new cases over the previous two weeks; Orange County gained 38 cases, with 409 over the previous two weeks for a total of 2,678.
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At 6 pm, the Dartmouth Political Union hosts an online conversation with renowned and sometimes controversial lawyer and legal scholar Ronald Sullivan.He's the faculty director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute and the Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop—and defended former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez on murder charges, represented the family of Michael Brown in reaching a settlement with the city of Ferguson, and has secured the release of multiple wrongfully convicted prisoners. He'll be talking about those convictions and the criminal justice system as a whole.
This evening and tomorrow evening at 7:30, Urban Bush Women premiere Haint Blu, "a dance-theater work reflecting on familial lines through memory and magic," as part of "Legacy + Lineage + Liberation," their 35-year celebration at the Hop's Moore Theater. The troupe were artists-in-residence last fall, during which they developed Haint Blu; the performance as a whole will feature works covering UBW's ground-breaking decades in the dance world. Discussion with the artists following Saturday's performance.
Also at 7:30 this evening, the Wild Goose Players open the curtain on the premiere of NH playwright Sean Hurley's Food & Shelter at Next Stage Arts in Putney. Billed as "a ghost story for those who sometimes wonder if they themselves might be the ghosts," Hurley's play involves a couple stuck in a cabin in the woods and the slowly emerging secrets they—and the cabin—have been holding close. Runs this weekend and next, tix are $35 in advance, $40 at the door.
And also at 7:30, Middlebury Arts presents a free, online conversation and concert by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center exploring the work of the great cellist Pablo Casals. The group's artistic director, David Finckel, is a cellist himself, and he'll be leading a panel of musicians (Dmitri Atapine, Arnold Steinhardt, Jaime Laredo, and Timothy Eddy) "who, either through direct contact or inherited influence, have been changed by the art of Casals forever." No charge, but you'll need to sign up for the link.
Meanwhile, if you feel like a drive, all day today and tomorrow it's the Stowe Winter Carnival, with ice-carving demos, music at night, stargazing tomorrow night (when it'll be a tad warmer than tonight), and, Sunday morning, a snowvolleball tournament. Here's guessing the dress is different than for beach volleyball.
In case you were planning to head to Lake Morey tomorrow for the Upper Valley Trails Association's annual Skate-a-thon, it's been rescheduled to Feb. 12 because of ice conditions.
And the "Intro to Winter Fat Biking" fundraiser for the Upper Valley Land Trust at the Brookmead area in Norwich has been moved to Sunday. There are a few time slots left if you're 5' 9" or taller (smaller bikes are all claimed) to check check out Vermont Bike & Brew's e-bikes and support the UVLT. It's safest to call 802.274.2277 to reserve a bike, just in case.
Finally, on Sunday at 3 pm at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon, Upper Valley Music Center's Ben Kulp on cello and Tristan Bellerive on guitar perform selections from Joel Styzens’ Relax Your Ears—which Styzens, who composes film scores, wrote while working through a persistent case of tinnitus—as well as original compositions by Bellerive and various Spanish compositions. Free for those under 18, $20 for adults, vax proof and masks required. Here's a brief taste of Styzens' stirring composition from Kulp and Bellerive.
Want to bet that one cello piece that won't be brought up at tonight's Casals conclave is the Prague Cello Quartet's cover of "Rock Around the Clock"? But could there be a better way to get you in the mood for the weekend? Doubtful.See you Tuesday.
The Hiking Close to Home Archives. A list of hikes around the Upper Valley, some easy, some more difficult, compiled by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. It grows every week.
Daybreak Where You Are: The Album. Photos of daybreak around the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the US, sent in by readers.
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