GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Maybe some morning snow. There's a warm front moving through, but temps won't actually get above freezing today until around noon. High today in the mid-30s, which is the lowest high we're going to see well into next week. Mostly cloudy for the first part of the day, gradual clearing during the afternoon. Winds from the south, high 20s overnight.The perfect spot to write and watch the world go by. It's Week 54 of Lost Woods, and Lydia's hanging out with Henry on his doorstep as he writes—or tries to, anyway. As he does every Friday, 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 just head right back to the beginning.Norwich passes mask mandate. In a 4-0-1 vote Wednesday night, the selectboard opted to impose the temporary requirement for all "locations that are open to the general public" except for schools, places of worship, and office spaces where staff is separated from the public. Selectboard member Marcia Calloway abstained. The rule took effect immediately and will last for 45 days, at which point the board can opt to renew it for 30 days. It can also be suspended if Windsor County's transmission rate drops below the CDC's definition of "moderate" for 10 consecutive days. Details at the link.
DHMC clamps down on visitors. The hospital announced yesterday that due to "high levels of community transmission and record-high cases of COVID-19," starting today no visitors will be allowed for inpatients or for outpatient appointments and procedures, except in certain circumstances. The policy shift applies to DHMC itself as well as its outpatient clinics, surgery center, and palliative care center. The hospital has also largely halted elective procedures and canceled indoor events, and is looking for space to expand critical and emergency care, reports the Valley News's Nora Doyle-Burr.SPONSORED: Gas prices are too damn high! These days, drivers are paying more than twice as much at the pump as to charge an electric vehicle (EV) to go the same distance. But if you rely mainly on public charging stations for electric hook-ups, your EV's cost advantage drops. Which makes charging at home from solar—like Solaflect's backyard solar Trackers—the best hedge against rising fuel costs. And you can lock in these carbon-free savings for the next 25 years! For more information on the benefits of home charging with solar power, hit the maroon link. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy.Revels thinks ahead of the curve. Planning for its holiday show began during the dark days of January, which is why executive director Brian Cook opted for a mostly outdoor festival this year. It begins next Friday, with plenty happening in Colburn Park and on the LOH steps—though there will also be several indoor performances with Eden MacAdam-Somer, whose repertoire includes klezmer and other Jewish music as well as Afghan music (she's taught at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, and Revels is donating tix to Afghan refugees); tubist Richard Antoine White (the first Black American to earn a doctorate in music for tuba performance); and fiery Cape Breton band Còig.On the other hand... WRJ's Main Street Museum has decided to cancel its annual holiday variety show, which was due to run next weekend. "The COVID numbers are high, and rising. The MUSEUM is an intimate setting. Even with masks, we don't feel we can provide a safe enough environment for all (especially the children). We have released Santa from his obligation," they write on their FB page. January's annual tree burn and carnival will go ahead as planned, since it's outdoors.Peace Field Farm-ers buy downtown Woodstock building. Developer John Holland and farmer/restaurateur Matt Lombard—who are embroiled in trying to create a farm-to-table restaurant at Peace Field—have bought the Central Street building that houses both Lombard's Mangalitsa and The Daily Catch, reports the Vermont Standard. They intend initially to improve accessibility to the second floor. Asked if the site could also serve as a fallback if the Peace Field project falls through, Holland said that the downtown restaurant could "purchase value-added products for this location or even something that was prepared in the kitchen at Peace Field Farm and then served in the Village.”Been paying attention this week? The guys who run The News Quiz have some questions for you. Like, just where is it that Suzanne Stofflet is spending 15 minutes a day to raise money for the Haven? And why were some kids absent from Hartford High this week? And what might reduce cows' methane emissions? You'll find those and others at the maroon link.Hiking Close to Home: Thetford's Woods Hill Trail. This week, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance points you to Thetford Academy's world-class 5K cross-country running and skiing trail, designed by John Morton. In addition to hosting multiple running championships, the trail—which runs through part of Thetford State Forest—is popular for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It has gentle grades and a wide corridor, making it ideal for a wide array of trail users. The trailhead is located behind the school buildings, by the athletic fields.NH will reprise home Covid-test giveaway. The state is "conducting a groundbreaking experiment in offering free at-home rapid Covid tests to all residents, and one outcome is already clear: Demand is sky-high," write Carey Goldberg and Emma Court in Bloomberg. Given that the supply of 800,000 kits ran out in a day, that much seems clear. Gov. Chris Sununu tells them the state will re-up, though it's not yet clear whether the feds will pay this time. “If we have to pay for it ourselves, we have funds, and we’ll do it,” he says.“We cry. We cry together as a group, especially night staff, you know. We have a lot of moments where we feel overwhelmed.” All this week, VPR has been running a remarkable series by independent producer Erica Heilman, who's been talking to staff at Northeastern VT Regional Hospital in St. J. In this installment, Heilman talks with two night nurses, one from the Philippines, the other from Jamaica, about what happens when Covid patients give up hope, the death of one nurse's mother from Covid in the Philippines, and the Covid situation here vs. back home. "People are privileged here," says one.The last five months in VT saw more Covid cases than the 13 months before that. There have been 29,800 cases since July 13, writes Erin Petenko in VTDigger, and there were 24,500 cases from March, 2020 until that point. The difference, despite vaccinations, is the Delta variant—and the state's loosening of restrictions last summer. “Each person who tested positive with the original strain of the virus infected only one or a couple of people," health commissioner Mark Levine said at his recent press conference. "Now the variant is infecting three, four or five people.”At the heart of VT Climate Council's plan: equity. It's unclear how much, if any, of the ambitious, 230-page report the legislature will ultimately adopt, but in Seven Days, Kevin McCallum offers a road map to its aspirations and their potential economic impact. The plan encourages the state to focus its incentives and subsidies—for EVs, for instance, and cold-climate heat pumps—on lower-income residents. "I believe the plan puts those who can least afford it absolutely top of mind," says Natural Resources Secy Julie Moore.There are rescues...and then there's this. On Wednesday, onlookers watched in horror as a car was swept to the brink of Niagara Falls. Unable to get to it, police called in the Coast Guard, which dispatched a helicopter crew—in a snowstorm—from Detroit. In whipping winds and with frozen mist threatening to ice over the chopper, Petty Officer 2nd Class Derrian Duryea was lowered to the car—where, after several minutes, he was able to get inside and free the driver, who did not survive. Police are trying to determine how the car got in the water, reports the AP's Carolyn Thompson. Here's video.It's not just birds beneath the bird feeder. I know, there were no photos to lead off, but here you go... Before she became a wildlife conservation photographer, Carla Rhodes was a ventriloquist. Now her work appears in the NYT, Smithsonian, and other fine publications. Last winter, she hung a camera under the birdfeeder in her yard in the Catskills, and captured a glorious array of bird and small-mammal behavior. After dark, deer mice would gather the seeds that fell and cache them in a nearby stone wall—only to have all sorts of birds and squirrels raid the hoard during the day.
The numbers...Daybreak reports Covid numbers on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Dartmouth's dashboard reports 2 active undergrad cases, 12 among grad/professional students (+2), and 17 (+1) among faculty/staff. The dashboard also reports 42 combined new cases among students over the past seven days, as well as 26 among faculty/staff. 14 students are in isolation, along with 25 faculty/staff.
NH reported 792 new cases Tuesday, 1,184 Wednesday, and 1,408 yesterday. Its total is now 173,089. There were 29 deaths over that time, bringing the total to 1,773. The state reports 10,648 9,671 active cases (+977 since Monday) and 479 (+46) hospitalizations. The state tallies 554 (+35 since Tuesday) active cases in Grafton County, 460 (+61) in Sullivan, and 1,251 (+200) in Merrimack. In town-by-town numbers, the state says Claremont has 161 (+22 since Tuesday); Newport 135 (+24); Lebanon 80 (+4); Hanover 51 (no change); Canaan 51 (no change); Charlestown 47 (+4); Haverhill 38 (no change); New London 27 (+6); Warren 26 (+1); Sunapee 25 (-2); Enfield 23 (+4); Cornish 21 (+3); Newbury 18 (+5); Grantham 16 (+2); Plainfield 14 (+3); Wilmot 11 (+1); Wentworth 9 (+1); Grafton 9 (+4); Rumney 8 (-1); Orford 5 (-1); Croydon 7 (+2); and Piermont, Lyme, and Springfield 1-4 each.
VT reported 301 cases Tuesday, 426 Wednesday, and 467 yesterday, bringing its total to 54,321. There were 9 deaths over that time; they now number 426. As of yesterday, 87 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (+9), with 23 of them in the ICU (-2). Windsor County has seen 152 new cases over the last three days, for a total of 4,209 for the pandemic, with 700 new cases over the past two weeks; Orange County gained 33 cases, with 181 over the past two weeks for a total of 1,877 for the pandemic.
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This morning, starting at 10 and running both tomorrow and Sunday, Woodstock and Billings Farm bring back Wassail Weekend. Today's events are mostly focused on Billings' "Christmas at the Farm" (plus two concerts in the evening, see below); tomorrow, Woodstock fills with events, from horse-drawn wagon rides around the village to the annual (except last year) parade through town. There's more, and Omni Reporter's Gareth Henderson describes it all.
At 5 pm, the Brattleboro Literary Festival hosts writer Ruth Ozeki (My Year of Meats) for an online "literary cocktail hour" about her new novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness. It's about 14-year-old Benny Oh, who, after his father's death in a freak accident, began to hear the voices of inanimate objects—cash registers, paper cups, coffee beans—and to sense their emotions. No charge but you'll need to register.
This evening at 7 (and again tomorrow at the same time) at the Grange Theater on Thetford Hill, you can catch something rare these days: an evening of circus arts. Circus Smirkus and Ecole de Cirque de Québec alums Liam Gundlach and Ripley Burns have been experimenting with acts and movement all summer—he's an acrobat and extraordinary diabolo artist, she's an acrobat, hand balancer, and foot juggler—and they'll bring it all together for their first indoor staged show. There's a max occupancy of 75, masks and proof of vaccination (or negative Covid test) required. To reserve a seat, email [email protected] before noon the day you'd like to attend.
Also at 7, the Chandler in Randolph hosts a "Winter Solstice Mini-Fest," both in-person and online. It features bluegrass mandolinist Matt Flinner and Brattleboro-based roots band Low Lily in a rollicking, harmony-filled evening of songs marking the season.
As, for that matter, does "The Kat and Brett Holiday Show," with veteran Burlington-based singers-songwriters Kat Wright and Brett Hughes, bringing their annual music show to Woodstock for the first time, at the Little Theater at 7 pm.
And at 7:30 pm at the Town Hall Theater in Woodstock, Pentangle Arts presents Irish Christmas in America. Pulled together by Sligo fiddler Oisín Mac Diarmada, it features singer Niamh Farrell, West Kerry singer Séamus Begley, old-style Irish dancing by Samantha Harvey, instrumental tunes on fiddle, flute, uilleann pipes and harp, and lots of banter.
Tomorrow morning starting at 10:30, it's Astronomy Day at the Montshire, with moon and solar-system making, a chance to meet and talk to guest astronomers, and a tutorial on what to look for in this week's night sky.
Tomorrow at 5 pm and again on Sunday at 2 pm, Opera North presents All is Calm at the Lebanon Opera House. The a capella chamber opera is based on real-life events during World War I, when soldiers from France, England, and Germany ventured into no-man’s land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to take a break from war. There are still some, but not a lot, of tickets left for both shows.
At 7:30 pm tomorrow and again Sunday at 4 pm, the Bel Canto Singers will take over the Norwich Congregational Church for their choral concert, "A Winter Day." The music for choir, strings, and piano includes Giovanni Pergolesi's "Magnificat," Sarah Quartel's "A Winter Day," and carol and gospel arrangements.
Finally, at 7:30 and 8:30 pm tomorrow—and again next Saturday—WRJ's Kishka Gallery & Library hosts artist and puppeteer Jacob Graham, who has worked for the Henson Company, Disney, and Basil Twist, and, now, has created his own webseries, Creatures of Yes. Shows are appropriate for all ages, masks required. RSVP to [email protected]
I think we have to honor Astronomy Day, don't you? So we'll go with "Walking on the Moon"—only if you've got The Police's original already starting up in your head, you should dial it back. Aloe Blacc, who grew up in southern California, the son of Panamanian immigrants, may have started as an indie hip-hopper, but he's moved far afield—including, these days, a series of duets with LeAnn Rhimes. A decade ago he was part of a French music "project" called Roseaux,
— same lyrics but a
very
different, essence-of-cool vibe. Tried to figure out where that artfully arrayed audience of sophisticates was, but I'm afraid I can't.
See you Monday.
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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