Daybreak Thursday 8/25/22

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

A calm, sunny day. Or maybe not. Fog to start, and then for the most part today we should see blue skies and temps reaching the lower 80s. But there's some weak low pressure crossing through that brings a very slight chance of showers and maybe even thunder mid-morning. A stronger cold front drops in from Canada late, but we won't really see its effects until overnight or tomorrow. Winds from the northwest, down to around 60 tonight.Definitely a sunrise worth getting up early for. That's how Greg Greene describes the view that greeted him in Pomfret earlier this week, and oh, yes: the ridgelines still gray and purple in the early light, the sun's rays holding such promise...Lebanon considers moving beyond Mascoma River for water supply. With fluctuating weather patterns and the river's flow controlled by a private dam, writes Frances Mize in the Valley News, officials have become concerned about the city's vulnerability. And engineers have identified a possible well location near the city’s wastewater treatment plant and the confluence of the Mascoma and Connecticut rivers, with strong groundwater flow. The site "is set to undergo significant testing work in the next year," Mize writes, but it could be four or five years before it comes online."The success of our study rode on one element: We actually had to catch a loon." The VT Center for Ecostudies is part of a study that spans the northern US, collecting measurements, feather and blood samples, and other data on loons. But as VCE loon biologist Eric Hanson writes on the organization's blog, for all that science to happen, you have to hope some loons are willing to play along. Recently, a team led by Hanson headed out onto a series of northern VT ponds at night. Hanson describes the adventure—with photos by high schooler and Green River Reservoir volunteer Kata Gilbertson.SPONSORED: The Handel Society of Dartmouth College is holding auditions! They're for all voice parts and will run from 3 to 9 pm on Tuesday 8/30, Wednesday 8/31 and Thursday 9/1. Hit the burgundy link to sign up. Orchestral and choral director Filippo Ciabatti and assistant choral conductor Erma Mellinger will lead the first rehearsal Sept. 7 at 7 pm as we prepare Mozart's Te Deum - K141 and Mozart's Coronation Mass -  K317 for our November 15th fall concert. Please email [email protected] with any questions. Sponsored by the Handel Society. "Part nature walk, part art adventure." That's how freelancer Eric Sutphin describes the experience in the VN at Sculpturefest in Woodstock, the annual outdoor exhibition hosted by Charlet and Peter Davenport on their land. "Art nerds like me might notice that the selections seem to take you on a little mini-tour of the evolution of sculpture," he writes. But many of the works, like Herb Ferris’s Dance of Ideas and Jay Mead's Red Lines and Passaconaway, in their own ways fit into and draw attention to the landscape. In all, Sutphin writes, "A feeling of generosity and care permeates the exhibition."NH secessionists win their day at the Ballot Law Commission. The issue at hand was a complaint arguing that 13 state legislators who voted in favor of seceding from the US in the last legislative session had violated the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution by aiding rebellion and insurrection, and should be barred from state office. The commission, however, decided unanimously yesterday that it does not have jurisdiction over constitutional questions, and dismissed the complaint. Pro-secession activists, writes Amanda Gokee in NH Bulletin, say they'll try again in the legislature.Colleges "should assume that they’re going to have somebody on their campus that has monkeypox. The outbreak is just too widespread for that not to be the case.” That's the head of the American Public Health Association talking to States Newsroom's Jennifer Shutt. In NH, NH Bulletin's Ethan DeWitt finds, colleges aren't saying much about their plans. Plymouth State, Keene State, and Colby-Sawyer haven't provided public information; UNH has plans for education and training; and Dartmouth says it's "preparing" for outbreaks and will offer information “as the situation evolves.”In VT, Covid levels remain "low" but hospitalizations rise. In the state health department's latest report, VT reports that nothing much has changed from previous weeks. However, reports VTDigger's Erin Petenko, the state database is showing a recent jump in the number of patients hospitalized for Covid, with 47 reported as of yesterday mornng—the highest number since the end of May. Petenko adds, "The state only releases hospitalization data for three days a week, making it hard to say if the recent high hospitalization counts reflect a consistent trend."VT loosens Covid guidance for schools. "COVID-19, like the flu, is now a part of our lives," a memo from the state says, and as a result officials are downplaying masks, contact tracing, and testing, writes Seven Days' Alison Novak. Which all amounts to "wishful thinking," Dartmouth's Anne Sosin responds. "I'm concerned that Vermont is setting the stage for significant disruption"—especially because, Novak writes, vaccination rates for kids ages 5 to 11 are far lower than for teens and adults. On the plus side, there's been progress on ventilation and school air quality.VT couple hatches big plans for small-batch whiskey. In just the past 20 years, the number of US distilleries has grown from 25 to more than 2,000, a fast-growing market of whiskeys most of us haven’t heard of, let alone tried. Spirits experts Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski of Ferrisburgh are on a mission to corral some of the best of these small-batch whiskeys and deliver them to a wider swath of discerning palates, writes Seven Days’ Anne Wallace Allen. Through their company, Lost Lantern, the couple bottle and create unique blends of whiskeys from all over the country. And business is good.When black-legged ticks overwinter in maple and oak leaves, most live. When they overwinter in balsam fir needles, they die. That's the result of intriguing research by Nova Scotia neuroscience prof Shelley Adamo, after she noticed that the little Lyme-carrying menaces didn't survive on her balsam fir-laden property. She tells the CBC's Emma Smith that her team carried out the research over three winters. "We are quite confident of our results, particularly because they were so striking. Literally, the ticks die," she says. Balsam essential oils in cotton balls achieve the same result—even more quickly.Extreme rock climbing for the slightly less daring. Imagine safely scaling the sheer cliffs of Franconia Notch. That’s what a “via ferrata” (Italian for “iron way”)—a system of steel rungs and cables securely bolted to the rock—would make possible. Cindy Hirschfield in the NYT highlights a trend at popular US climbing spots: installing via ferratas to make some of the most challenging, breathtaking routes accessible to the less-experienced climber. The closest to us isn't actually in the Whites: It traverses Ausable Chasm near Plattsburgh, which Hirschfield assures is “especially approachable.” (Gift, no paywall.)The Thursday Vordle. You know what to do!

Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it keep going by hitting the maroon button:

And some music for the day...

When he was nine years old, suffering from asthma, Brian Finnegan took up two pursuits to strengthen his lungs: running and flute. "It felt natural to play an instrument that needed my breath—it gave the flute its voice," he once told an interviewer. "Then I heard Matt Molloy and Mary Bergin play and knew I'd chosen the right path.” Molloy and Bergin are mainstays of the traditional Irish music world (Molloy on flute, Bergin on tin whistle) and Finnegan followed their paths—on both flute and tin whistle—as one of the founders of Flook, a celebrated Anglo-Irish band that's pushed traditional music in its own directions. The band broke apart for several years back in the teens, but it reunited some years back, and is still going strong.

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.

Want to catch up on Daybreak music?

Check out the Spotify playlist generously maintained by Sarah and Nelson Rooker.

Want to catch up on Daybreak itself (or find that item you trashed by mistake the other day)? You can find everything on the Daybreak Facebook page

, or if you're a committed non-FB user,

the last 30 days in the Mailchimp archives

.

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt         Writer/editor: Tom Haushalter    Poetry editor: Michael Lipson  About Rob                                                    About Tom                                 About Michael

And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to hit the blue "Subscribe" button below. And thanks! And hey, if you're that friend? So nice to see you! You can subscribe at: 

Thank you!