WAIT, IT'S MONDAY ALREADY?
Because it's not going to look a whole lot different from Sunday... Though we probably won't have thunder, lightning, and hail tonight. There's a high-level low-pressure system meandering our way, and it's responsible for this weather. Chance of showers this morning, rising to a near-certainty this afternoon. Temps only getting into the low 40s, if that. Maybe some snow mixed in tonight as temps drop. A quick note: Daybreak will be out a bit later than usual the rest of this week, more like 7:00-ish. Just trying to pace myself. Okay, let's dive back in: The numbers:
NH has 258 cases, up 100 over the past three days (one of those, by the way, is the daughter of Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig). 39 are hospitalized. Grafton County has 29 cases (up 6 over the weekend) and Sullivan has 3 (up 1).
As of yesterday, Vermont was up to 235 cases, up 77 over the past three days. Windsor County has 18 (up 1), and Orange is still at 3.
"I’m envisioning sitting down to lunch with friends in a restaurant filled with the rest of you." Blogger Susan Apel spends some time looking forward — to whenever this is all done, and life begins to regain normalcy. There's planning that lunch, and re-planning cancelled trips. There's Leb's rebuilt First Baptist Church taking shape before our eyes. And, of course, there are crocuses (croci?)...They probably didn't cover this at the police academy. Lebanon officer Greg Putnam (and the department's mascot, Justice) are reading online to kids, from books chosen by the Leb Library's children's librarian. Lou's gets $1K donation to feed frontline workers. The VN's John Lippman reports that the anonymous donor is hoping others will also be moved to do the same. Lou's owner Jarrett Berke has already reached out to DHMC and other nonprofits for help identifying essential workers and their families "who are most burdened by exhausting schedules," and he's joined forces with Boloco (more below in "Helping Out"). Lippman also has a profile of Leb resident Joy Tyo, who manages Upper Valley Rideshare and is working very long days delivering groceries, medicine, and other items around the region."Bakers are at home and things can go very strange and very wrong, very quickly. So, we're here to help." That's celebrity baker Gesine Prado, who (with her husband behind the camera) is co-hosting King Arthur's "Isolation Baking Show" from her Sugar Glider Kitchen in Hartford. The first show was on Friday. WCAX's Scott Fleishman talks to her about how it's going. There's a new food delivery option out there. Remember Taste of Africa? Well, some time ago it morphed into Global Village Cuisine, selling prepared foods to stores and supermarkets. Now Mel and Damaris are taking orders and scheduling home deliveries to select towns. First delivery's tomorrow, order due by today. Schedule at the link. In addition, Big Fatty's, Cantore's, Ziggy's, Gusanoz', Thai Orchid and probably others are delivering as well.Dartmouth will take a financial hit, but will come through okay, Hanlon says. In an email to the campus community on Friday, college president Phil Hanlon noted that demand for financial aid will grow dramatically, revenues will drop, and the endowment will take a hit. Even, so, he said, the college has been preparing for a recession, and "We must all look out for the most vulnerable among us." To that end, the college has set up an emergency fund for students facing economic dislocation."I wonder if you haven't given a layperson's interpretation of the risks of infection by Covid-19 more authority than it's due." That's reader Stuart Blood, responding to Friday's link to a blog post by the Monitor's David Brooks. Brooks, he goes on "has made an interpretation which, whicle plausible, is not supported by the [source] article." His specific concerns at the link. I've asked Brooks for a response, and will run that if & when it arrives.And yet, you still "don't have to panic about shopping, getting delivery, or accepting packages." That's per Joseph G. Allen, an assistant professor of exposure and assessment science at Harvard's school of public health, writing in The Washington Post. The key, he says, is that while risks may exist, they're small and you can mitigate them. "If you take basic precautions, including washing your hands frequently, the danger from accepting a package from a delivery driver or from takeout from a local restaurant or from buying groceries is de minimis," he writes.How are things going in NH? State epidemiologist Benjamin Chan and DHMC infectious disease specialist Elizabeth Talbot will be on NHPR's "The Exchange" to talk about it, today at 10 am.NH police are discouraging people flocking to crowded hiking trails and beach roads. Even though the beaches themselves are closed, the Monitor reports, Rye Police Chief Kevin Walsh wrote in an open letter on Saturday, "it was as if it was a hot summer day in Rye, New Hampshire." Not a good idea, he said. On the other hand, Gov. Chris Sununu says despite crowded parking at trailheads, hikers are keeping a safe distance from one another. Though he is asking out-of-staters who plan to stay to self-quarantine.Which is funny, because in RI, the governor specifically mentioned NH as she ordered mandatory quarantine for out-of-staters. It began as an imposition just on New Yorkers, who were being stopped at the border, but on Saturday Gov. Gina Raimondo extended it. "Unfortunately," she said yesterday, "we’re seeing that same rate of infection [as in NY] in other places, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, etc." Anyone planning to stay in the state must self-quarantine, and police are getting addresses so they can check.In Vermont, state police visited nearly 318 inns and hotels over the weekend. The state's "stay home" order means they're only allowed to operate if they're housing quarantined individuals, or housing homeless individuals or other vulnerable populations. Police found a few that were accepting out-of-staters, reports VTDigger, but the state is not, at the moment, looking at enforcement actions. Meanwhile, a Bennington state rep. yesterday putting out a statement asking people from away to stay away. “Please do not come to Vermont at this time,” she said. “It is legal, but also highly inappropriate.”Know before you go. The White Mountain National Forest has shut down some popular recreation sites (including Rumney Rocks climbing area, cabins, and a few trailheads), and a bunch of toilet facilities at popular trailheads, even though the trails themselves are still open.Which is why conservation groups are urging people to "walk local," rather than on popular trails. The Forest Society, NH Audubon, Nature Conservancy, and Appalachian Mountain Club are suggesting the hikers and walkers check out conserved lands and the many trails the orgs maintain. The press release is at the link, but what matters is that it includes links to the various orgs' lists and maps of trails. Farmers are growing anyway. They don't know how they'll market what they harvest, whether farmers markets will even open, and what'll happen if the temporary workers they rely on each spring and summer don't show up. But, says Jon Cohen, who owns Ascutney's Deep Meadow Farm, “We have all of our seeds. We have all of our materials. And, you know, we’re farmers. We’re resilient. We often figure things out.” VPR talks to Cohen and a few others about how things look at the moment.
William Daugherty and his drone were out over Claremont on Saturday. Usually his flights are more pastoral, but this time, it's a bird's-eye view of the old mills, spill dam, and the city itself. They're going to bloom any day now. Okay, maybe not right now "any day," but soon enough. VPR's All Things Gardening columnist Charlie Nardozzi is up with advice on pruning hydrangeas. Some — the ones that bloom later in the summer or early fall, on new wood — are ready for pruning right now. Others, the ones that bloom sooner, probably have buds on old wood, and you'll want to wait until they're done flowering. But I learned early on not to hand out gardening advice: Go read (or listen to) the guy yourself.Searching for jelly fungus and chipmunk burrows. Thetford's Elise Tillinghast is up with "a treasure hunt for early spring." Since we're spending so much time outside, there's lots to look for right now, she writes. Yellow-bellied sapsucker holes, the patterns made by bugs and larvae under the bark of dead trees or logs, the moon's closest encounter with the Earth this year, on April 7, and, of course, vernal pools coming right up... Norwich and town manager finally have a contract. Town Manager Herb Durfee on Friday signed a 15-month contract extension, laying to rest a months-long debate on the selectboard over whether to renew or look elsewhere. The contract gives him a small raise, adds an additional week of vacation, and, writes the VN's Tim Camerato, "calls for him to attend additional finance training, issue monthly reports and present more complete budget information in October."The snow may (mostly) be gone down here, but up there... Nice view from VT's Mount Abraham over the weekend.You know, some day we're going to be able to cross the border easily again... And when we can, MTLBlog has a list of 14 road trips you might want to consider. These are within five hours of Montreal, but if you're in the mood to explore.... There's the Flume and the Adirondacks on the US side, of course, but have you ever been to the Saguenay Fjords? Or actually stopped at (rather than whiz by) Mont Tremblant? Or visited (rather than whiz by) Magog? Or the abbey (and its cheeses) in Oka? Yeah, me neither. But a guy can dream...
News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
#UVTogether
Staying Sane
One fantastic source of links and ideas for getting out in nature, especially with kids, is maintained by the Upper Valley Teaching Place Collaborative. It's collected resources from groups like VINS, the Four Winds Nature Institute, even the Sullivan County Conservation District. (Thanks, ET!)
Or if you're feeling more insidey, you could getting going on a play for Shaker Bridge's ten-minute-play contest. Winners will get a staged reading next fall. Or heck, maybe you just want to do one line: They're also holding a contest for the worst opening line to a play. Link for details.
This is cool, too. Courtney Cook and other writers are inviting you to be inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron, "an act of storytelling resistance—a choice to narrate love, sex, beauty, truth, and joy" in face of the Black Death — and write your own story about these times. "This is about vulnerability, presence, beauty, survival, and the vagaries of being human," they say. Details at the link. (Thanks, RS!)
You could go check out a bunch of museums, from MoMA to the Rijksmuseum, pulled together by Sotheby's Realty. (Thanks, RH!)
Or you could spend a couple of hours with Danny Kaye and the NY Philharmonic. He led the august orchestra for a fundraiser in 1981, with Zubin Mehta serving as "warm-up man." The music was serious. Kaye, not so much. (Thanks, RM!)
Helping Out
Remember how Lou's and Boloco are helping to feed front-line workers and their families? Lou's owner Jarrett Berke has a GoFundMe page so you can help support that effort. As he puts it, "You are paying hard-working restaurants to cook food for brave frontline workers."
Tonight at 6:30, local personal-finance coach Katy Almstrom is doing a free workshop on "budgeting during uncertainty." She'll repeat it tomorrow night, as well. "Doing my part to help and reduce stress," she says. Link takes you to a calendar, and you can sign up from there.
Okay... Time to get the week started. Let's slip into it with a burgeoning art form: Great works of music done from quarantine.
Here's the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th. (Thanks, ML and CJ!)
And from the UK, Camden Voices doing Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors."
See you tomorrow.
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