GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Um. Okay, look. The trees and flowers and fields and meadows are pretty happy. And we get a break on Sunday and Monday. But for today, we're once again looking at mostly cloudy skies, a chance of rain all day (with a likelihood this afternoon, along with a slight chance of a thunderstorm), and cooler-than-normal temps, though slightly warmer than yesterday: 50s in the morning, into the low 60s in the afternoon. Winds are coming from the southeast today, and we're back into the upper 40s overnight.And yet... In what may be a harbinger of things to come, "moderate drought" is back on the US Drought Monitor's map for Vermont. Right now it's affecting the north-central part of the state, while much of the rest of the state (though eastern Orange and Windsor counties are still okay) is labeled "abnormally dry." In NH, most of the state is still in good shape, while Coos County is "abnormally dry."All power to the possum! This grooming and snacking youngster is on Erin Donahue's trail cam. Ted Levin writes: "According to the Centers for Disease Control, blacklegged ticks infected 476,000 people with Lyme disease in 2022, and between 2011 and 2019, Babesiosis cases in Vermont increased from two to 34. Simplified forest ecosystems and woodlots put people near blacklegged ticks. One line of defense: the opossum. Like my Nana, Esther, opossums are fastidious groomers with sophisticated immune systems that clear infections. A primping opossum eliminates, on average, 5,000 ticks a week.""I’m betting you could still cook an omelette on the hood when they took the 'for sale' pics." That's Randolph Center farmer Sam Lincoln commenting on a PT Cruiser that went up for sale on Facebook Marketplace almost immediately after it was chased—with two kayaks on top—by police from Randolph Village to Randolph Center. In the Herald, Darren Marcy reports it hit 86 mph on a dirt road—where Lincoln caught it on video after he pulled his tractor into the road to try stop it. The driver veered around Lincoln's barn and got away, but a passenger who jumped out in the middle of Lincoln's field was apprehended. Here's the video (action starts around the 00:36 mark).Hartland Three Corners reconstruction due to start Monday. The long-planned project has been in the works for years—voters first approved it in 2014—and aims to simplify the intersection where Routes 5 and 12 meet, as well as to make it more pedestrian-friendly. In the VT Standard, Aaron Rubin reports that at a selectboard meeting Monday, the regional planning commission's Rita Seto said work will occur in four phases, won't affect access to nearby buildings, and should finish up in September. The Civil War monument standing at the intersection will be moved out of harm's way.DH laying off 75. The news, involving employees at DHMC and DH Clinics, came in an email to staff from CEO Joanne Conroy yesterday, reports the Valley News's Nora Doyle-Burr. The hospital network is also dropping 100 vacant positions. Overall, Doyle-Burr writes, DH has about 10,000 employees. The layoffs, Conroy said, are focused on roles within the organization as it seeks to revamp under continuing financial pressure. “The restructure is designed to make the greatest strategic impact with the fewest reductions,” she wrote. “Maintaining frontline clinical staff remains a top priority.”SPONSORED: Stretch your legs in the scenic Shaker 7 Road Race and three-mile fun walk on Sunday, June 25! Join us for the Enfield Village Association’s annual Shaker 7 road race! The seven-mile race starts and finishes at the Shaker Recreation Park on Route 4A in Enfield, NH, taking runners on a beautiful and picturesque route around the southern end of Mascoma Lake, down historic Main Street, over the Shaker Bridge, and back down Route 4A to the park. For more information or to register, hit the burgundy link or go here. Sponsored by the Enfield Village Association.Five years and $3.7 billion later, Dartmouth sets fundraising campaign to rest. Technically "The Call to Lead" doesn't end until June 30, but close enough. In yesterday's announcement, the college reports that 60 percent of alums participated, as did donors from 105 countries; 115 women gave $1 million or more during the campaign. The effort has funded $500 million in endowed scholarships, a $100 million effort to improve the success of historically underrepresented groups in STEM fields, and a rich array of academic and infrastructure initiatives. In the Globe (via MSN, no paywall), Hilary Burns notes the last capital campaign brought in $1.3 billion."Date Night at the Wheel." No, not in a car. At a potter's wheel. It happens to be a sold-out workshop tonight at CraftStudies in WRJ, and the center, which just held its grand reopening, is already going full steam, writes Susan Apel in Artful. Having moved from its six-decade location in Hanover (it shared a building with the League of NH Craftsmen) to the WRJ spot once occupied by Funkalicious, it's luxuriating in more space. "And what a space it is," Susan writes, "with immense windows fronting onto Maple Street and letting in an abundance of natural light." You'll find its class & workshop schedule here.Hiking close to home: Crown Point Trail. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance this week points out this trail in Charlestown, NH, which provides a gentle hiking option along the banks of the Connecticut River. Beginning from a trailhead off Lover's Lane Rd., the out-and-back trail follows the river through knolls and ravines for 0.6 miles before arriving at a bench and a Crown Point Road marker placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the first on the New Hampshire side of the river. Information on the history of the Crown Point Road can be found at the kiosk. Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, which movie is it that's got reporters abuzz and E. Corinth locals sticking to their non-disclosure agreements? And what's that new feature on Lake Fairlee? And that Hartford drug investigation—what did the cops label it? Those and other questions at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know what biologist Bryan Pfeiffer finally found after two decades of searching.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what is "a wildlife center in Lyme" returning 137 of back into the wild?
As efforts to build hydropower transmission lines advance, questions grow about hydro's capacity to power New England. That's because, report the AP's Susan Haigh and Wilson Ring, a study last month from the Montreal Economic Institute predicted that Québec will fall short of the generating capacity required for its own needs over the next decade, let alone southern New England's. Which, you'll remember, is the ultimate destination of projects along Lake Champlain, across Maine, and pending proposals through VT and NH. Hydro-Québec, meanwhile, is now interested in bi-directional lines that could also move power (from, say, offshore wind) to Québec.“I believe we kind of just made history." NH House agrees to Senate budget. Its overwhelming approval yesterday means the two-year budget will go straight to Gov. Chris Sununu's desk, with none of the usual last-minute negotiations to hammer out differences. As NHPR's Josh Rogers reports, House members gave up on several priorities, including a fix to the state retirement system for firefighters and law enforcement, but settled happily for state employee pay raises, new money for public schools, and a boost to Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers.Who knows if they'll come this way, but just in case... You know how every so often we get fighter jets screaming through on training runs? The NH Seacoast got a taste of it yesterday. WMUR's Kelly O'Brien reports that 200 members of the 334th Fighter Squadron, based in NC, are at Pease for the week training over different terrain from what they're used to. "The mountainous low flying is something we can't get in eastern North Carolina, and it was an opportunity to push the limits they are comfortable with," the squadron's operations director explains. Their F-15s will be sharing airspace with the VT Air National Guard's F-35s.Personal info of 7,000 retired VT teachers stolen in cyber attack. The incident occurred in January and mostly involved names, dates of birth, addresses, and medical and insurance information, reports VTDigger's Tiffany Tan. The breach involved a contractor that provided software used by Vermont Blue Advantage plans' supplemental benefits administrator, NationsBenefits; the state was first informed in mid-May. NationsBenefits is offering affected retirees 24 months of free identity protection.Well, blow me over. There’s a fair body of research out there showing that being, well, out there—in nature—improves your health, lowers stress levels, and may even reduce cancer risk. Pretty much any fresh air will do, but windy fresh air might even be better, writes Alice Fleerackers on Big Think. That’s not a surprise to the Dutch, who have a word for it: uitwaaien, which “literally translates to ‘outblowing,’” says University of Amsterdam linguist Caitlin Meyer. Breathing in helps, too. In Japan, researchers are studying how the substances trees and plants put into the air improve human health when we inhale them.The moon sketches a figure eight. It's called an analemma, and Wael Omar, an astrophotographer in Cairo, spent a month creating a stunning version, climbing a minaret every day—50 minutes later each day—that gave him a sterling view not only of the moon, but of the pyramids not far off. "Not only did this require Omar to take off work, but he also had many sleepless nights waiting for the right time to take the photograph," writes My Modern Met's Jessica Stewart. Lucky thing he chose the moon. A sun analemma requires a photo every day for a year.The Friday Vordle. If you're new to Vordle, you should know that fresh ones appear on weekends using words from the Friday Daybreak, and you can get a reminder email each weekend morning. If you'd like that, sign up here.
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At 6:30 this evening, writer, activist, and former acting minister of education in Afghanistan, Rangina Hamidi, will be at the Kilton Public Library in West Leb for a talk, "Can You Imagine Building a Women’s Center in Afghanistan Today?" In 2008 (12 years before her stint as education minister), Hamidi founded Kandahar Treasure, which works with women artisans practicing Khamak, a craft traditional to Kandahar using tiny satin stitches to create cloth with intricate geometric designs reminiscent of the tile work in traditional Islamic architecture. Hamidi, who now teaches at Arizona State University, will repeat her talk tomorrow at 3:30 at the Meriden Congregational Church. (Note: link works in Chrome and Safari, but doesn't seem to in Firefox.)
And also at 6:30, the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts brings in the venerable and dynamic Burlington Taiko. They'll be at the Union Episcopal Church in Claremont—outdoors if the weather permits, indoors if not. There'll also be a livestream.
This evening at 7 at the United Church of Strafford, pianist Annemieke McLane, soprano Sudie Marcuse, mezzo soprano Becky Bailey, and reader Jim Schley will give a concert of music and poems celebrating flowers and trees. The program includes music from Gjeilo, Mendelssohn, Rameau, Doret, Brahms, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Rorem, and Barber, and poems by many authors, including some from Strafford. Donations for the Manheim Fund (which supports community music-making at the United Church) will be welcome at the door.
Also at 7 this evening, Cameo Baroque performs a benefit concert for Willing Hands at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon, "Music of the French Baroque". Ernie Drown, Beth Hilgartner, Leslie Stroud, and Laurie Rabut will perform works by François Couperin, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre, Jean-Féry Rebel, and others. Entry by donation, all of which goes to Willing Hands.
And also at 7, the Old Church Theater in Bradford kicks off its final weekend of performances of "Six Nights of One Acts": Joe Simonelli's Inspiration, in which Shakespeare faces writer's block and a midlife crisis; Alex Dremann's On the Porch One Crisp Spring Morning, in which a mother and daughter companionably sip coffee one morning on their porch—until things go dramatically south; and Simonelli's Jersey Bad Boys, his homage to '30s gangster flicks. At Bradford Academy.
Saturday
Tomorrow starting at 4 pm, the Lebanon Opera House ventures farther afield than usual, to River Park on the banks of the Connecticut in West Leb, with "Hootenanny". Gates open at 2 for picnicking (weather permitting), and then at 4 Beecharmer—Jes Raymond, Jakob Breitbach, and Kit Creeger—kick off an afternoon and evening of roots music. They'll be followed at 5:15 by the Boston-based Americana band Cold Chocolate, with Ethan Robbins on guitar and Ariel Bernstein on percussion. Then, at 7:15, ace mandolinist Jacob Jolliff and his fine band of pickers take the stage with their blend of classic bluegrass and newgrass. River Park is located at 173 North Main Street in West Leb. If rain happens, it all moves indoors to the Seminary Hill auditorium.
At 6 pm tomorrow at Cooper Field in Putney, Next Stage Arts presents Colombian singer-songwriter and accordionist Gregorio Uribe. Earlier this year, Uribe released his latest album, Hombre Absurdo, which takes its inspiration in part from the minstrels who ply the Colombian Caribbean and in part from existentialism, Greek myths, and post-modernism.
At 7 pm tomorrow, the Lake Sunapee area's Summer Music Associates kick off their 50th season with the Boston Civic Symphony at Colby-Sawyer's Sawyer Theater. The 75-piece orchestra, led by Francisco Noya, will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major (the "Pastoral"), Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia, and Ernest Chausson’s Poème for violin and orchestra, with featured violinist Keila Wakao, the first-prize winner of the 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition.
And at 7:30 pm tomorrow, the Flying Monkey in Plymouth brings in the hard-working, hard-touring band Gaelic Storm for an evening of high-energy Irish, Scottish, and all-around Celtic tunes. There are still tix, but they're dwindling.
Sunday
At 2 pm on Sunday in Sharon, Seven Stars Arts presents pianist Jacqueline Schwab and her program, I Lift My Lamp. Schwab, who's probably best known for her playing in over a dozen of Ken Burns' documentaries, will play vintage songs and dance tunes from American immigrants, including music from Western and Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and South America, as well as spirituals, ragtime, and Tin Pan Alley tunes.
Also at 2 on Sunday, Pentangle Arts presents the Upper Valley Community Band at the Woodstock Town Hall Theater. Led by director Mark Nelson and associate director Dominick DeFrancisco, the 50-member band will play a program that includes works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Clifton Williams, Robert Russell Bennett, Omar Thomas, Maurice Ravel, Al Sweet, Andrew Boysen Jr., and others.
Starting at 2:30 Sunday and lasting into the evening, Revels North holds the kickoff event for its effort to fund its new digs, "Oh Give Us a Home." Things get going with kids' activities and socializing, then at 3:30, there'll be contra dances called by David Millstone with live open band led by artistic director Alex Cumming and fiddler Laurel Swift, then Community Singers, Morris & More, and finally, a potluck dinner. At Fairlee Town Hall.
And at 4 pm on Sunday, the Unitarian Universalist Society of the UV's Roots and Wings Coffeehouse closes out its spring season with the Fred Haas Sextet, which features six of the region's mainstay jazz musicians: Fred Haas on tenor sax; Tim Gilmore on drums; David Westphalen on bass; Elizabeth Frascoia on trombone; Billy Rosen on guitar; and vocalist Sabrina Brown.
And to ease us into the weekend...
Astrud Gilberto died Monday night at 83. You know her, of course, as the voice that made "The Girl from Ipanema" a global hit and helped bring Bossa Nova to the US via the 1963 collaboration between her husband at the time, João Gilberto, and Stan Getz. That recording was something of a fluke: The producer wanted the lyrics sung partly in English and Astrud was the only one in the studio who could pull it off. She went on to divorce João, tour for six months with Stan, and then—though she never had a mega-hit like that again—to carve out a full-on solo career that lasted until 2002.
Have a lovely weekend, enjoy whatever sun we're given, and see you Monday for CoffeeBreak.
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.
The Enthusiasms Archives. A list of book recommendations by Daybreak's rotating crew of local booksellers, writers, and librarians who think you should read. this. book. now!
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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