GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A quiet day today. We'll start out pretty sunny, at least until mid-day, as high pressure overheads scoots off east and low pressure approaches. Temps rising from the mid-20s this morning to the upper 30s this afternoon. Eventually, we'll see more clouds, and overnight temps are going to stay in the higher 30s. There's arctic air headed our way, but we won't really feel it until later tomorrow. Winds today from the south.An homage to the Occom Pond Party. There's something old-fashioned about Janice Fischel's photo of the event that's now succumbed to climate change, though nothing old-fashioned about the technique she used to make it. "I took the picture a while back and pixilated it," she writes, "because I don’t use faces without permission. It became a favorite of Bill Young, the wonderful organizer and tireless worker on behalf of fun in Hanover."Oh yeah? I'll see your snow cornice and raise you mine. That's not quite how Vershire's Doug Shane puts it, but there's always room for a good cornice smackdown. (So if you've got a recent one that's even more dramatic than this, send it along.)"If you don't exist, everything you do doesn't happen." Auk and Eddie—well, mostly Eddie—ponder extinction and why it might just be Auk's superpower. As he does every Friday in this spot, Lebanon author and illustrator DB Johnson chronicles the doings in Lost Woods. Hit the back arrow to catch up on previous weeks or to head right back to the beginning."We definitely need a shelter on the New Hampshire side." That's LISTEN's Heather Griffin, talking about homelessness in the Upper Valley. In The Dartmouth, Lauren Adler reports that a late January single-night count found at least 110 unhoused people in southern Grafton County alone—and points out that the closest shelter on the NH side to LISTEN's food distribution center is in Claremont. The Haven's shelter is still at half-capacity, thanks to the pandemic, and it's not operating its normal winter shelter. “It was a challenge prior to COVID, but it’s become a crisis at this point,” says Griffin.SPONSORED: When guys shop for Valentine’s Day... it’s usually an uninspired surgical air strike at a run-of-the-mill gift shop. But if you’re more than a Neanderthal, you could be a successful hunter-gatherer at Chapman's General in Fairlee. Chapman’s has locally crafted jewelry, decadent chocolates and sweets, and a superb wine selection. Gather it all into an eye-popping gift basket that won’t look like it came from the Stone Age. And if you want to be in love with your job, email us at [email protected] for current opportunities. Sponsored by Chapman's General.Road and sidewalk improvements in Windsor, making Tech Center jobs full-time in Claremont, $700K for Grantham school's playground. The Valley News continues its coverage of town meeting warrants and budgets. You'll find individual stories at the link (along with other recent local government articles). It's the second time before the voters for those playground improvements in Grantham, while those improvements in Windsor are part of an overall infrastructure focus in Windsor, and the Sugar River Tech jobs are part of an overall $37 million schools budget. Hiking Close to Home: Parcel 5 in Norwich. This 5k loop is designed for mountain biking, hiking, running and cross-country skiing. The trail meanders through a variety of woodlands with some steep ups and downs as well as cut-throughs to make shorter loops if desired. In winter, it's sometimes groomed for skiing—follow the signs at the kiosk as the trail is meant to be one-way for skiing and biking. Parcel 5 is about 2.5 miles from downtown Norwich on Beaver Meadow Road and provides access to other trails in the area such as the Ballard Trail and Brown Schoolhouse Road Trail.Been paying attention this week? The guys who run The News Quiz have some questions for you. Like, why has the Occom Pond Party been cancelled indefinitely? Which town (and mountain) did the NYT write about recently? And what West Leb retail landmark has just been sold? You'll find those and others at the maroon link.NH's Public Utilities Commission reverses course, restores energy efficiency funding. It's a partial victory for a Who's Who of energy players in the state, including the consumer advocate, utilities, even LISTEN. Yesterday's order, reports Amanda Gokee, sets budgets for NHSaves efficiency programs back to 2020-21 levels (they'd been slashed by its controversial November order). The PUC acted, Gokee writes, because of Consumer Advocate Don Kreis' appeal of its November decision to the state Supreme Court. Other elements of that decision remain in force.FOR SALE: 175,393 round pieces of wood, most about 35 feet long. Motivated seller! There are a few caveats, though, Consumer Advocate Kreis points out in his Power to the People column: They're spread all over the state, they have wires attached, and it looks like they've already been sold. It's a deal between Consolidated Communications, which wants out of the telephone/utility pole business, and Eversource. And it's going to cost utility ratepayers. Who aren't allowed to know how much. The companies are insisting it be kept secret, but Kreis knows. And, he writes, "This is a bad deal."Scott vetoes contractor-registration bill. As you may remember, the measure would have required contractors doing jobs worth $3,500 or more to register with the state, as a means of trying to cut down on fraud or jobs gone bad. Vermonters reported an estimated $2 million in losses in 2020 and 2021, reports Lola Duffort in VTDigger. But Gov. Phil Scott, who'd made no secret of his skepticism, argued that it would discriminate against smaller contractors by imposing requirements they'd have trouble meeting.And he's got a decision to make on another controversial bill. The VT House yesterday gave final approval to a measure aimed at closing the so-called "Charleston loophole," which lets gun purchases go through if a background check isn't done within three days. The House had originally extended that period to 30 days, then the Senate added language requiring the process to start over if a check isn't completed within 30 days, writes Ethan Weinstein in VTDigger. Some legislators object to the open-ended nature of the new bill. Scott hasn't said where he stands.Wait. There are soft-shelled ticks? And they're here? Sigh. They're bat ticks, and they've recently shown up in Vermont for the first time, reports WCAX. As the name suggests, they mostly affect bats, but in the 30-odd other states where they're more common, they've been known to go for pets and people, too. It's a bit unclear what pathogens they carry, though the CDC says they can be a source of tick-borne relapsing fever, a rare infection linked to sleeping in rustic cabins (where, presumably, bats hang out).Good news for the bald eagle in VT. After years working to restore nesting sites and ban insecticides like DDT, state wildlife officials have removed the bald eagle from VT’s list of endangered species. Seven Days’ Kevin McCallum reports on the achievement, an effort that has seen the bald eagle’s numbers grow from just two breeding pairs in 2008 to 64 fledgling birds by 2020. Says wildlife division director Mark Scott, “It shows that Vermonters have the capacity to restore and protect the species and habitats that we cherish.” But VT’s endangered list added species too, including the American bumblebee.When Canadian fire hydrants go rogue... the results stick around. At least, in mid-winter they do.Watch this red ball travel the world in under three minutes. Well, more like 40 months—the time it took to complete this wildly imaginative video—but who’s counting? What’s way more captivating is the group effort of 40 different animators, spanning the globe, who contributed their talents. The concept, dreamt up by Nathan Boey, was simple: Make a 3-second animation of a red ball; pass it to someone in another country; they pick up where the last one leaves off. The result is a playfully surreal tour of the animated universe, from digital to hand-drawn art—and so much more.
And the numbers...
Dartmouth's numbers are dropping, though more slowly, down to 127 total active cases (from 146 Monday). The college's dashboard yesterday reported 88 active undergrad cases (-12), 10 among grad and professional students (-3), and 29 among faculty/staff (-4). There have been 289 combined new cases among students over the previous seven days, as well as 57 among faculty/staff. 79 students are isolating on campus, 19 are isolating off-campus, and 33 faculty/staff are in isolation.
NH's new cases continue to fall, also not as rapidly as last week, with a 7-day average now of 725 new cases a day, compared to 804 at the start of the week. The state reported 307 on Tuesday, 786 Wednesday, and 747 yesterday, bringing its total to 287,020. There have been 28 deaths reported since Monday; the total now stands at 2,288. Hospitalizations continue to trend downward: 175 people are currently hospitalized (-31 since Monday). The state reports 6,064 active cases (-213) and that there are 494 (-52) active cases in Grafton County, 265 (-5) in Sullivan, and 635 (+3) in Merrimack. In town-by-town numbers, the state says Claremont has 125 (no change), Hanover has 121 (-20), Lebanon has 49 (-19), Newport has 44 (no change), Haverhill has 36 (+1), Charlestown has 28 (+2), Enfield has 22 (+6), New London has 20 (-1), Grantham has 18 (no change), Canaan has 16 (-2), Sunapee has 14 (no change), Plainfield has 10 (+1), Grafton has 8 (+1), Wilmot has 7 (+at least 3), Newbury has 6 (no change), Springfield has 6 (no change), Orford has 5 (-1), Lyme has 5 (+at least 1), and Piermont, Warren, Wentworth, Rumney, Orange, Cornish, and Unity have 1-4 each.
VT's bumping along, reporting 202 new cases Tuesday, 511 Wednesday, and 398 yesterday, to bring it to 108,577 total. There have been 12 new deaths recorded, with 565 in all over the course of the pandemic. Hospitalizations are dropping: As of yesterday, 76 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (-12 since Monday), with 23 of them (+2) in the ICU. Windsor County has seen 38 new cases since Monday, with 7,048 for the pandemic and 208 new cases over the previous two weeks; Orange County gained 29 cases during that time for a total of 3,136, with 121 over the previous two weeks.
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Of course, it's Dartmouth's 112th Winter Carnival this weekend, with ice sculptures, alpine and nordic racing, a polar bear swim at Occom Pond (2 pm today), hockey games, snowshoe racing, and more.
And it's also Winter Carnival in Newport, NH (six years younger than Dartmouth's), with dodgeball, midnight skating, woodsmen's games, an axeman challenge, a mac 'n' cheese cookoff, a pancake-eating contest, and a whole lot more.
If you feel like a drive, the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro VT kicks off two weekends of "Snowlights," with the grounds awash in light and an outdoor stage and dance floor presided over tonight by juggler and new vaudevillian Brent McCoy and by Mal Maiz, the Latin/Afro-Caribbean dance band that's also been a favorite at Feast & Field. There'll be food as well. (At the link, scroll down and hit the particular calendar listing you're interested in...)
This evening at 7, the Norwich Bookstore hosts novelists Jillian Cantor and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore for an online conversation about Cantor's recently published Beautiful Little Fools. It gives voice to The Great Gatsby's women—the story's told not by Nick Carraway but by Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Catherine McCoy as a detective tries to unravel how Jay Gatsby wound up dead in a swimming pool.
At 7:30 pm, in person at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon, the Anonymous Coffeehouse picks up again for the season. First up is Rockingham, VT veterinarian and folksinger Vinnie DiBernardo, followed by young old-time music duo Marc Shapiro and Billy Corbett and then Jaded Ravins, the musical couple team of Kelly Ravin and Halle Jade, based in Nashville.
Also at 7:30 in Spaulding, the Hop brings in Welcome to Indian Country, a collaboration in poetry, song and story by six Indigenous artists, including fiddler Nokosee Fields, Abenaki bassist Mali Obomsawin, percussionist Adam Benham, Washington State poet laureate Rena Priest, Diné trumpeter Delbert Priest, and Nez Perce jazz vocalist Julia Keefe. “The Hopkins Center," the show's artistic director tells The Dartmouth, "has made perhaps the greatest commitment that I know of any performing venue in the country to fostering Native American performing art."
The Lake Morey Skate-a-thon may have been cancelled but starting tomorrow at 9:30 am, it's the Mascoma Lake Skating Association's Mascoma Ice Day. The 9:30 event is an ice safety demo put on by the Enfield, Lebanon, and Canaan fire departments. After that, things will depend on conditions. "We are going to be very flexible depending on the weather and ice and snow conditions," the association writes on its FB page. "Ben is going to make some Nordic Skiing trails if possible so if we can't skate, maybe we can skate ski. And if we can't skate or skate ski we can walk, snow shoe or classic ski."
Tomorrow at 10 am, the Hartford Conservation Commission is sponsoring a snowshoe outing with writer and naturalist Ted Levin in the Hartford Town Forest. Topics will include winter birds, early spring migrants, and winter natural history. Meet up at the Hartford Town Forest Trailhead Parking Area on Reservoir Road, off Kings Highway. Email Angie Emerson for more information at [email protected]
And starting at 10:30 am tomorrow, the Montshire once again hosts its annual Igloo Build, with a full day (until 3) of snow- and ice-centered exploration. Bert Yankielun, an engineer and author of the book How to Build an Igloo and Other Snow Shelters, will be there to fill you in on the various structural secrets behind building with snow. Plus, lots of activities with ice, and snowshoes to borrow if you feel like exploring the Montshire's territory.
And tomorrow at 3 pm at Alumni Hall in Haverhill, the North Country Chamber Players present a "Winterlude" concert celebrating three periods of music's Romantic Era: works by Ferdinand Ries, a student of Beethoven; Amy Beach, a New Hampshire native, and her Romance for Violin and Piano; and Johannes Brahms' Quintet in F Minor. The Bailiff's cafe will be serving up beverages and sweets; proof of vaccination and indoor mask wearing required.
Tomorrow evening at 6:45, the Thetford Hill Congregational Church is putting on its annual Extravaganza variety show—online. Charlie Buttrey emcees, performers show up both live and taped, and you get to sit home and watch. There's no charge, but it is a fundraiser to get the church some new, more weather-resistant doors—you can order take-home dessert boxes to help out, or make a direct contribution. Li Shen has more in Sidenote.
All this weekend, it's NH Audubon's Backyard Winter Bird Survey, in which participants report any bird species visiting their yard and/or feeders. Description and full instructions on how to submit results at the link.
And finally, if your thing is racing madcap down a mountain with hundreds of others, the annual Stowe Derby is back on Sunday: For those doing the 20 km Long Course, it's 2,700 feet of vertical drop down Mt. Mansfield’s Toll Road, then along the Stowe Rec Path to the finish in Stowe Village. There's also a 6 km, less hair-raising short course.
This past week was the anniversary of the death in 1959 of Mississippi R&B phenom Guitar Slim, who was 32. He burst to national attention with "The Things I Used to Do," which over the years has been covered by any number of greats. Including, in 1965, Chuck Berry. Berry was on tour in Europe when he went on a Belgian TV show with a stellar group of Belgian jazz musicians. Here they are with their version of "The Things I Used to Do." That's Willy Albimoor on piano, Roger Vanhaverbeke on bass, Willy Donni on guitar, and Berry's frequent colleague Eddie Hunton on drums.
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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Writer/editor: Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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