GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sun and clouds, even warmer. One more day of this! Things will start to change tonight, but for today, we've got temps climbing into the low 40s on continuing winds from the south, with clouds building in as a warm front approaches later today. It's expected to bring showers—both rain and snow. Lows tonight around the freezing mark.One animal in the sky, one on the ground.
The airborne one wasn't actually an animal, but to Nancie Severs' eye, the cloud over Daisy Hill in Lebanon the other day sure looked like a hungry alligator. Can't disagree.
Meanwhile, in Plainfield, Sarah Berman installed a trail cam in hopes that someday a bobcat would wander in front of it. She saw plenty of other animals—including the porcupines that appeared here back in January—but no bobcats. Until now. Here's a still—of a bobcat checking out the porcupine den.
Unity school board asks voters to consider withdrawing from Claremont district. If passed, the measure on the school warrant would require creating a committee to consider the options, reports Patrick O'Grady in the Valley News. The step comes in part because of the drastic size difference between Unity, which has fewer than 100 students in a single K-8 school, and Claremont, with 1,600 students. “Right now, resources are heavily biased toward Claremont,” says board member Marjorie Erikcson. “There are many instances where the needs of Unity have been overlooked and unattended to by the SAU staff.”Sure, you could live on Harmony Way. But why, when you could live on Trespassing Chicken Path instead? Recently, Thetford's Perry Allison—who directs the We The People Theatre troupe—got a chance with her neighbors to name their road. As she explains in a post on her new Substack, opportunities like this don't come along very often, so they got together to figure things out. They tried out names related to barns and trees. They got into wildlife—like, Tenacious Ground Hog Weapon of Mass Garden Destruction Hollow. They eventually found something they all like, but it still needs to be approved by the town. So Perry's not spilling the beans.SPONSORED: Pain is in your brain, not your tissues. But that doesn't mean pain isn't real! All pain is real—and for many people it is a debilitating part of everyday life. Fortunately, understanding more about why things hurt can help people to overcome their pain. At Upper Valley Integration Therapy, we offer comprehensive pain education to empower your healing and well-being. We work with self-motivated people of all ages and abilities who aspire to a healthy relationship with their body. If you're in pain or just curious, hit the burgundy link to learn more. Sponsored by Upper Valley Integration Therapy.Dartmouth to name stadium in Buddy Teevens' honor, hold celebration of his life. The celebration will be on May 18, writes the college's communications office, at the Memorial Field complex. It will be followed in the fall by a dedication ceremony on Oct. 5, when the stadium will be renamed the “Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field”. Memorial Field, they add, "will continue to honor students and alumni who lost their lives in wars." The field "was a treasured place for Teevens, who was known for regularly grabbing a shovel and clearing off the 'D' at midfield after snowstorms," the office writes."A charming, rocking and skillfully created time machine." That's how Seven Days' Chris Farnsworth describes Green Mountain Saturday Night, the new, 12-track album from Fairlee singer-songwriter (and selectboard chair) Lance Mills. To say it's been years in the making is an understatement: He wrote the first song for it 35 years ago. Over those "rambling, rollicking and swinging tracks," Farnsworth writes, Mills "takes a tour through the 20th-century American songbook. He channels rock, country, Americana, folk and blues into an album that sounds like one you might find combing through a yard sale or the dusty bins near the back of a thrift store." But no need: You'll find it here.Lebanon's Larry Vanier "is one of the best landscape photographers working in New England." That's what the VN's Alex Hanson and Vanier's photography colleagues believe, but Vanier—who also works at Stateline Sports—asked Hanson not to make a big deal out of his photography. "As a human being," writes Hanson as he goes ahead and makes a big deal, "I’m sorry, Larry. But as a community journalist, I’m not sorry. I can’t think of anyone more worthy of this kind of attention." He traces the arc of Vanier's work, talking to photography pros as well as Vanier himself about his self-effacing approach.“The only thing me and the haters have in common is we’re both wondering how I am headlining festivals." That was Noah Kahan on X, quoted in a new New Yorker profile by Amanda Petrusich that—though it certainly nods to Vermont—is more interested in Kahan's music and its trajectory. "Kahan is sometimes lumped in with a subgenre of Americana music referred to, retroactively and derisively, as 'stomp-clap-hey'," Petrusich writes, "but he is mostly uninterested in appearing as if he recently disembarked from a steamboat." It's a dive into the music, and how Kahan feels about it all.Saving 603. There's a bill in the NH Senate, WMUR's Steve Bottari reports, that would direct the state's energy department to act forcefully to keep the 603 area code from running out of numbers—as phone companies have been warning for years could happen. It would include steps like making sure blocks of numbers reserved by big organizations or assigned to a particular exchange are actually being used. It's worked in Maine, lawmakers were told Tuesday. "It's part of our identity. It's part of our brand," said Senate Pres. Jeb Bradley. "I think New Hampshire citizens think of it somewhat iconically."The NH debate over coyote hunting season, explained. For the moment, the debate's off, since on Feb. 6 a House committee quickly killed a bill to close the season on coyotes, which can be hunted year-round, during the months coyotes are rearing their pups. But as Hadley Barndollar writes in NH Bulletin, it's sure to be back. She portrays a Fish & Game board that's squarely set against coyotes—“They are quite the killing machine,” says its chair—and citizens and researchers who believe they have a useful place in the state's ecosystem and that indiscriminate hunting is counterproductive.VT Senate passes ed property tax cap repeal. The bill, H.850, moved through the legislature quickly after an outcry from school districts looking at dramatic tax increases as budgeting season got under way. The measure axes a 5 percent cap on tax increases under Act 127—which had the perverse effect of driving taxes higher—and replaces it with a discount for districts hurt by a new pupil weighting system. It also allows districts to put off budget votes. "This is a first step," Senate leaader Phil Baruth said. "The second step is to think about cost containment." Seven Days' Kevin McCallum reports.Growing up "poor poor" in Newport, VT—and heading to Columbia in the fall on a full scholarship. Isaac McDonald is 18, a senior at Lake Region High School, and the subject of Rumble Strip producer Erica Heilman's newest episode on class in Vermont. In a striking conversation, he tells her about growing up as the child of two drug addicts—"I’m not upset to say so. That’s how it was"—and missing out on having someone to take care of him or his siblings; about heading to New York—"I’ve heard the food culture is something to die for down there. We eat chicken and rice, like, every night"; and more.An armadillo that’s ready to take on the world, above and below. With their coating of armor and prehistoric vibe, armadillos are already captivating. But one species is unique among mammals, writes Maddy Chapman in IFLScience. The pink fairy armadillo has a double layer of skin—scaly outer layer, fluffy inner layer—to protect it underground, where it spends most of its time, and on the surface. With a keen sense of smell, changeable color, and diamond-shaped tail, the tiny creatures are definitely cute. But good luck seeing one; they went underground millions of years ago, and rarely make an appearance. I know! Let's play a game! It's called "Antidepressants or Tolkien" and it's pretty much what it sounds like. Up pops a name: Narmacil, say, or Elronon. Your challenge is to guess: Is it a potentially vital medication or a figure from Middle Earth? One of those was the 17th king of Gondor. The other? An antidepressant introduced in Europe in the 1970s. It's uncanny. Best of luck!The Thursday Vordle. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak.Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
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There's that Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, perfect for long nights by the fire. Plus, of course, fleece vests, hoodies, sweatshirts, even a throw blanket. And hats, mugs, and—once you work up a puzzle-piece sweat—tees. Check it all out at the link!
At 4:30 this afternoon, both in person and via livestream, Dartmouth's Dickey Center takes a look at the state of the Ukraine-Russia war on the eve of its second anniversary. Dickey Center director Victoria Holt, a former deputy assistant secretary of state, will moderate a conversation with Spencer Boyer, until recently the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, and William Taylor, former US ambassador to Ukraine. In Haldeman 41, or register for the livestream.
Also at 4:30 pm, Rumble Strip creator and podcast star Erica Heilman will be at Dartmouth's Sanborn Library, sponsored by the English Department. She'll be talking about what it takes to get complete strangers to open up about their lives, feelings, and thoughts.
Today at 5:30 pm, Vermont Law & Grad School in S. Royalton hosts former VT State Rep. Kiah Morris—the second African American woman to be elected to the legislature in Vermont history—for a talk on "Race and the Law". An actress, arts advocate, and poet, she'll be talking about her time in the legislature, reading poetry, and possibly discussing her current project, a docuseries on race in Vermont. In person at the Multicultural Center and livestreamed.
This evening at 6, the winter-time Rumney Sessions continue at Fable Farm Fermentory in Barnard with Avi Salloway and friends. Salloway, who went to UVM, is the bandleader and chief songwriter for the Cambridge, MA-based band Billy Wylder. Shortly after creating it in 2013, he spent three years touring worldwide with Tuareg guitar master Bombino, before coming back and reviving Billy Wylder, whose repertoire is shot through with the interplay of North African music with Delta blues, Appalachian music, and more.
At 6:30 this evening, via Zoom, Nordic ski trail designer and biathlon legend John Morton will join the Norwich Historical Society for its "Discover Norwich" series. He'll be talking about trails both in that town and beyond, as well as about the people who once lived and farmed the land that the region's trails—many of which he designed—now cross. You'll need to register for the link; there's a suggested donation of $20.
Also at 6:30, Orford tree farmer Tom Thomson will be at the Orford Social Library to talk about the history of his tree farm, show photos of views and wildlife, and explain the roots of the farm's renowned expanse of lupines.
At 7 pm, two writers who pay close attention to the world and communities around them will sit down together to talk beavers. Leila Philip, multiple award winner for previous works of nonfiction, will be reading from and talking about Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, her appreciative dive into “the only animals apart from man that radically transform their environment"—part history, part journalistic foray into the world of trappers and eco-restorers and others who interact with beavers. She'll be in conversation with the Upper Valley's Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, author of A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear.
Also at 7 this evening, Hop Film brings back a Telluride at Dartmouth selection, Anatomy of a Fall. Justine Triet's multiple Oscar nominee and winner of the 2023 Palme d'Or focuses on the death of an aspiring writer, his novelist wife—who's accused of killing him—and their visually impaired son, exploring the intricacies of marriage and family, and on the courtroom drama that grows out of it all. The screening's part of the Hop's "It's Complicated" series of films about messy relationships.
And also at 7, Dartmouth's Vocal Performance Lab presents an evening of Arabic song, verse, and music (and coffee and food) with three students, Middle Eastern Studies lecturer Mokhtar Bouba on oud, and college organist Henry Danaher on piano. There'll be a post-concert discussion with the performers: "Arab Culture in Music and Verse". At Collis Common Ground.
And to ease us into the day...
We'll go back to a Seven Stars Arts performance a few years ago by Althea SullyCole—daughter of jazz musician and former Dartmouth music prof Bill Cole—that videographer Chad Finer posted recently. SullyCole, who now teaches at UC Monterey Bay, is on the 21-stringed West African harp called a
kora
, along with guitarist Alec Saelens.
, Senegal's Edou Manga.
See you tomorrow.
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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