WEEK'S END, UPPER VALLEY!
A bit cooler, but sunnier. Only into the lower 50s today and getting colder tonight as two fronts pass through (you heard that wind last night?) and open the door to some arctic air down the road. On the other hand, it'll be a day of full-on sunshine. Some decent winds from the west today, windier tonight, and down in to the lower 20s.A break from daybreaks today. Instead...
Remember that remarkable owl-imprint-in-the-snow photo from a few weeks back? Well, there's a beautiful barred owl that's been hanging around near Chad Finer's house in Norwich (here, imperturbable in a tree despite several crows trying to scare it off), and Wednesday afternoon Chad happened to catch it just after it emerged from the snow after diving for a mouse.
Meanwhile, earlier this week Kathy Stroffolino was over by one of the ponds in My Walden, the conserved land in Sharon that Steve and Shiela Swett have opened to the public, when she caught sight of a face appearing to glow eerily in the disappearing ice. It's in the little ice peninsula on the right.
It's
Lost Woods
Week 15, and Eddie and Auk have some time (and a shovel) on their hands. Today, as every Friday, Lebanon author and illustrator D.B. Johnson (
Henry Hikes to Fitchburg
and other classics) brings his new comic strip to this spot, a week's worth at a time. Scroll right to see what happens, left to catch up on previous weeks.
Are planes on the river actually a thing? Yesterday's video of the plane flying up the Connecticut stirred photographer Jim Block's memory of an early-March party on the river a few years ago that featured several ski planes taking off and landing. And of his windy, bumpy ride in one of them the following day. Fortunately, he happened to have his camera with him both days.New London Hospital victim of data breach. Earlier this week, the hospital began notifying 34,878 patients that on July 30 last year, an "unauthorized third party gained access to a file on NLH’s network for a short period of time." In late February, the hospital determined that the file contained names, some demographic information, and social security numbers. In a press release, the hospital says that the network is no longer in use and that it has "no evidence of any misuse of the personal information as a result of this incident."Vaccine clinics scheduled for NH school workers at DHMC. The clinics, organized by the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley, will be March 20 and 27 and are aimed at 2,000 teachers, bus drivers, classroom aides, substitute teachers and "anyone else who is critical to the function of their New Hampshire school regardless of their state of residence," report the Valley News's Alex Hanson and Nora Doyle-Burr. It's unclear which vaccine they'll use. In VT, vaccine clinics began this week at some school sites.Hit and run on Route 4 near Killington. Near midnight last night, the VT State Police say in a press release, they responded to an accident in which an unknown vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian crossing the highway in Mendon, near the Killington Pico Motor Inn. The victim was pronounced dead on the scene.Hiking close to home: The Chaffee Wildlife Sanctuary in Lyme. This week, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance points out this easy, .4-mile trail network through a variety of ecosystems including Clay Brook, Trout Brook, Post Pond, and wetlands. It features a series of bog bridges that meander through the property as well as a wildlife viewing structure and bridge to Chase Beach. From Lyme Village, drive north 1.8 miles on Route 10, past the entrance to Post Pond. The Sanctuary is identified with a large sign on the left (west) side of the road. Park off the shoulder. "To me they were third-wave feminists in the middle of the second wave." That's Woodstock author Julia Cooke talking about the stewardesses of Pan Am in the '60s and '70s to Seven Days' Kristen Ravin. Cooke's new book, Come Fly the World, traces their collective and individual histories, including the lawsuits they pushed to create a more diverse workforce—though Cooke also says, "Becoming a stewardess was a great opportunity for someone...who really was more focused on her own experiences and exemplifying what she saw as feminism, rather than participating in furthering the narrative at home."Sports fandom "makes the world a better place to live in." And that's Hartland author Larry Olmsted—who also has what has to be one of the greatest gigs in journalism, writing USA Today's "Great American Bites" column—talking to VPR's Mitch Wertlieb about his new book, Fans. Olmsted lays out the case that sports fandom—with its keen sense of belonging and ability to serve as a "universal language"—makes people happier and healthier and the world a more connected and aware place. "I like to share stories and that’s what librarians do: They share stories, they share books, they share information.” For the last 33 years, Andrea Thorpe has presided over the Richards Free Library in Newport, NH—where she moved after running the Etna library. She's stepping down today, and the VN's Liz Sauchelli profiles Thorpe and her time there, including her efforts to usher the library through its digital transformation. "Before, I couldn't afford all the reference books we needed to answer questions,” she says. “It makes little tiny libraries like ours compete with bigger ones.”NH, VT among top states for first vaccine shots; lag country in percent of doses used. NHPR's Casey McDermott has been checking in on CDC vaccination stats. Two weeks ago, the twin states were in the top 20 for getting first doses into arms; now they're in the top 10. They part company on percentage of the population that's been fully vaccinated: VT ranks 11th now, with 11 percent; NH is near the bottom, at 9 percent. And NH ranks 27th for portion of doses used, at 76 percent, while VT is 35th, at 74 percent.VAMS gives way to VINI. NH will start up its new vaccine scheduling system next Wednesday, Gov. Chris Sununu announced yesterday. The Vaccine & Immunization Network Interface replaces the much-derided system (VAMS) created for the CDC by Deloitte. Among other things, the new system makes it easier to schedule a second shot or to reschedule. Sununu also announced yesterday that the state is lifting quarantine regs for travel to NH, and that retail businesses can open at full capacity, while salons and barbershops can now take walk-in customers. The mask mandate remains in effect.Outdoor dining expanding across NH. Municipalities all over the state, including Lebanon and Hanover, have already prepped for warmer weather by allowing restaurants to expand outdoors this year. And in the legislature, a move to codify Sununu's executive order last May allowing restaurants to expand "wherever an outdoor area can be set up safely" has a head of steam after a Senate committee approved it unanimously. NH Business Review's Katie Hoppler looks at what's going on.VT legislators want to boost benefits to people with children. An aging IT system may stand in the way. Women in Vermont comprise a huge proportion of people who've filed for unemployment, far out of line with the rest of the country. As legislators consider boosting benefits for unemployed people with dependents, however, the labor department is warning that its creaky IT system—already blamed for several mishaps—could fail under the load, reports VTDigger's James Finn. "Our mainframe," commissioner Michael Harrington told legislators yesterday, "is on the verge of collapse.” "Could Vermont become the Napa Valley of the cider industry?" The Boston Globe's Diane Bair and Pamela Wright drew the grueling job of finding out whether Food & Wine was right when it wrote that cideries in the state are making “some of the best out there right now.” They've put together a DIY tour for when tasting rooms reopen, including Stowe, Citizen, Cold Hollow, Shacksbury, and Eden. Barnard's Fable Farm gets kind words, too. No mention, though, of Leb's Farnum Hill, which may be in NH but not that far into NH and did, after all, play a key role in the cider revival.Don't get too excited yet. Since this could take years. But researchers at the University of Minnesota have found fungi living in trees infested by the emerald ash borer that attack the insect. Next step: determining if any of the fungi can be used to kill the ash borer and then be harnessed to stem infestations in Minnesota and elsewhere. Like, for instance, VT and NH, where the ash borer's been present for several years.Do you suppose it feels special? Back in 2019, Belgian wildlife photographer Yves Adams got a chance to go to Antarctica. His first day on South Georgia Island, as he was unloading equipment, he noticed a bright yellow penguin. Understandably, it stood out, even with 120,000 other penguins around. It was leucistic, with a partial loss of pigmentation—and he got about two minutes to take photos before it wandered off. Now he's described the experience in a blog post—along with plenty of photos."The odds of ever seeing an individual like this again," he writes, "are one in a million."
Last numbers for the week...
Dartmouth's down to 26 active cases among students (down 10), and to 2 (down 2) among faculty/staff. Meanwhile, 22 students and 10 faculty/staff are in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 28 students and 8 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results or because they tested positive.
NH saw a jump yesterday, reporting 341 new cases for a cumulative total of 77,764. There were 4 additional deaths, which now stand at 1,191. Meanwhile, 78 people are hospitalized (up 3). The current active caseload stands at 2,114 (up 111). The state reports 100 active cases in Grafton County (down 11), 31 in Sullivan (down 3), and 194 in Merrimack (up 20). In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 30 active cases (down 11), Claremont has 9 (up 1), Plainfield has 8 (up 1), New London has 8 (up at least 4), and Lebanon has 6 (no change). Haverhill, Piermont, Orford, Rumney, Canaan, Enfield, Grantham, Springfield, Sunapee, Wilmot, Newbury, Newport, and Charlestown have 1-4 each. Cornish is off the list.
VT reported 128 new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 16,500. It reported no new deaths, which remain at 211 all told. Meanwhile, 27 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (down 5). Windsor County gained 3 cases to stand at 1,085 for the pandemic, with 56 over the past 14 days. Orange County added 2 new cases to reach 529 cumulatively, with 26 cases in the past 14 days.
News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
Today at 4 pm, just to get you ready for what's coming, the Howe hosts a virtual-garden-tour-by-photograph of the gardens of Susan Edwards, president of the Hanover Garden Club. Most of those photos are by Jim Block, followed by a "virtual flower show" featuring the work of writer and photographer Dave Nelson. This will be "horticulturally informative and a feast for the eyes," they vow. Email [email protected] for an invitation.
At 5 pm, the Brattleboro Literary Festival hosts VINS director Charlie Rattigan in conversation with researcher and conservationist Jonathan Slaght about Slaght's 2020 book, Owls of the Eastern Ice, about his journey to the Russian far east in his quest to find and save the world’s largest owl, the Blakiston’s fish owl, which is almost 2 feet tall and has a wingspan of 6 feet.
And at 6:30 pm, AVA Gallery launches its twin exhibitions in honor of Women's History Month with "Through the Windows," an improvisational performance by dancer Ellen Smith Ahern through the galleries...with the audience watching from the street outside (or, if you prefer, via Zoom). One exhibition, "I give you life/You give me death" is of a new body of work by sculptor Stefania Urist focused on trees, tree rings, and forests; the other brings together four sculptors, Christine Hauck, Ellen Keene, Amanda Sisk, Heather Szczepiorkowski, who aim to "engage the viewer in uplifting, playful, and transformative ways."
At 7 pm, the Upper Valley Music Center hosts a chamber-music listening party with the Apple Hill String Quartet. The quartet, resident artists at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music over in the Monadnock region, will be playing and discussing a program that includes William Grant Still's Lyric Quartette (Musical Portraits of Three Friends); Haydn's String Quartet in b minor, Op. 64, No. 2, and Aleksandra Vrebalov's Pannonia Boundless. Free, but rsvp to get the link.
Finally, at 7:30, Middlebury's performing arts series presents New Orleans native and jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner, playing a mix of standards and his own compositions. Fortner's had close collaborations with jazz luminaries like Wynton Marsalis and singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, and won attention in his own right, including first place in Downbeat's 2019 critics poll for Rising Star-Piano and Rising Star-Jazz Artist. Free, but you'll need to register.
If you've been reading Daybreak for a while, you'll remember the Ontario indie band Walk Off the Earth.
writing on its release,
"It is always good to remember to be grateful for what you have and that we’re all just a bunch of weirdos floating around on this spinning rock." Just the thing to launch you into the weekend.
See you Monday.
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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Banner by Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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