GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Chance of showers, thunder, especially in the afternoon. Whatever we get during the day is unlikely to be worth worrying about, and we'll actually start the day partly sunny, with the skies growing cloudier as the afternoon goes on. Temps today slightly warmer than yesterday, getting into the upper 70s. The bigger concern is for tonight, when we may see stronger thunderstorms and heavier rain. Low in the lower 60s.Ah, summer.
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," writes photographer Jim Block on his latest blog post. "When it rains repeatedly for many weeks, photograph moving water." Which is exactly what he did in late June and July: along streams all around the region, on both sides of the river—including, just after the July rains, Bicknell Brook in Enfield. There's beauty and mystery in all those woods and waters of summer.
Meanwhile, still for just a moment, here's dragonfly—a male widow skimmer—by Lake Morey, from John Pietkiewicz;
And a perspective on Queen Anne's Lace you definitely don't usually get, from Annemieke McLane in Strafford.
Four days devoted to Silent Cal. Today's the 100th anniversary of Calvin Coolidge's swearing in as the 30th president of the United States. Actually, you probably missed the precise anniversary, which was at 2:47 this morning. As Erica Houskeeper writes on her Happy Vermont blog, Coolidge may have built his career in Massachusetts, but "his heart was in Vermont." She devotes her post to the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch and its many acres and structures. As for the centennial events, here's the official list—including a naturalization ceremony this morning at 11 under a tent on the site.New flooring, new seats, new lighting: Lebanon Opera House to get a complete makeover. The anchor performing arts venue closes for five months starting Aug. 14, and in the Valley News, Alex Hanson looks at what's ahead—including wider seats, more legroom in the balcony, and introducing industry-standard LEDs to the stage. Overall, Hanson writes, LOH is hoping to raise $4.2 million: three-quarters of it for the upgrades, its first in over 20 years, and the rest to cover lost revenue and a new mobile sound and lights unit to allow for more off-site events, even after the venue itself reopens. You'll get a chance to say goodbye to the current space on Aug. 9.SPONSORED: You can improve someone's life right now! Hearts You Hold is a VT-based nonprofit that supports immigrants, migrants, and refugees by taking the time to ask them what they need. There are many requests waiting to be funded for people who are trying to build their lives: footwear and rain suits for farm workers in Randolph Center, money toward a car for a Ukrainian refugee in Hartland, clothing for newly arrived migrant workers—and, always, cards that help with gas and laundry. Hit the burgundy link above or here, pick something to fund, and make a difference now! Sponsored by Hearts You Hold.With Quechee Gorge Bridge reconstruction project set to begin soon, businesses gird for disruption. They've already seen a drop in visitors since the flooding, Patrick Adrian writes in the VN. And now, the $9.1 million rehab project "is anticipated to create traffic delays and parking challenges during the summer and fall for at least the next three years." Except during the winter, one lane of traffic and a sidewalk will be closed, and local businesses are especially worried about the fall months, when a couple of dozen buses usually come through each day—but might now bypass the Gorge. Adrian details the construction plans and the concerns.“Talk about the difference in someone’s face from the beginning of the day to the end of the day." Last week, volunteers with Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports spent the day on Silver Lake in Barnard, paddling with a group from Zack's Place, in Woodstock. VTDigger's Hannah Cho was there, and in her profile of Vermont Adaptive—based at Pico—speaks with several volunteers about how they came to be involved and what it takes to work with clients with a wide array of different needs—some of which might be met by off-the shelf equipment, and some of which might have to be MacGyvered.So listen. About that butterflybush. On Monday, Daybreak linked to a butterfly on a butterflybush, which was striking—and drew an alarmed email from an Oregon transplant who notes that the species is so aggressively invasive, sales have been banned there. It's beautiful, and so is popping up more in these parts as the climate warms. Here's what the Invasive Plant Atlas has to say about it (thanks to Ted Levin): "Although butterflies will use this plant as a nectar source their larvae cannot survive on it. By replacing native larval food source plants butterflybush can have a negative impact on wildlife."SPONSORED: Registration is open at Upper Valley Music Center for fall classes and ensembles! Whether you’re a total beginner, resuming an old hobby, or looking for new musical friends, we welcome students of all experience levels and ages, ages 0-100! Tuition assistance is available for fall programs, including singing, fiddle, guitar, chorus, orchestra, Music Together for little ones, and much more. Plus, this Saturday we still have space in two great workshops: drumming with Burlington Taiko, and a song circle with Patricia Norton. Sponsored by Upper Valley Music Center. Two NH newspapers launch pilot effort to use "civic documenters" to follow local government meetings. In a model pioneered by City Bureau, a Chicago-based nonprofit, the Keene Sentinel and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript (part of the same family as the Valley News) will train and pay community members to take detailed notes on meetings of town boards and commissions. “We think it will help from an accountability standpoint that we will be able to keep tabs on municipal operations that we are not able to now,” the Sentinel's executive editor tells NHPR. Watch for the idea, which is separate from City Bureau's, to spread in the twin states."Both futuristic and old-fashioned at the same time, like an elaborate steampunk dollhouse with three floors." That's how NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian describes the dilution refrigerator in a lab at UNH. It's capable of freezing things to about -460 degrees F, just a tad above absolute zero. Fabian Kislat, an astrophysicist at UNH, is using it to observe the gamma rays from supernovas—his detector has to be really cold to work properly. So cold, Hoplamazian notes, that every element except helium would turn into a solid at those temps. “You never get to feel how cold it is,” Kislat says. “And that is probably a good thing.”VT's 211 system faces criticism in wake of floods. In part, reports Seven Days' Kevin McCallum, the system—operated by United Ways of Vermont under contract to the state—was just plain overwhelmed by the volume of calls, and at one point faced a backlog of 300 calls from those flood victims who managed to get through; it took days to clear. But McCallum also writes that some towns relying on 211 data didn't see it—while personal information collected by 211 has been shared with some two dozen volunteer groups operating in VT through an app called Crisis Cleanup."It's hard to imagine downtown coming back, you know?" That's Jen Roberts, co-owner of Onion River Outdoors in Montpelier, in a Vermont Public video documentary about the devastation flooding wrought in the state capital —and businesses' efforts to rebuild. Bear Pond Books, the Capitol Plaza Hotel, Onion River... It's one thing to read about the damage, quite another to see its extent—as well as the massive response by volunteers and both the hesitation and determination of small-business owners as they consider reopening.“You’ve got to have a problem to hang 150 feet in the air on an eight-inch strap.” But that's what the people who climb cell towers for a living do routinely, and it's why the job is one of the most dangerous and grueling out there. But then, so are chasing tornadoes, working as a cobalt miner, clearing land mines, and working on an Alaskan crab boat. For Longreads, Chris Wheatley pulls together a collection of articles from over the years about "extreme jobs"—and why the people who work in them are drawn to them. "Chasing tornadoes is like hunting grizzlies," writes one journalist—"you want to get close, but not on the same side of the river."Fireball brighter than the moon: Comet fragment "entered Earth's atmosphere about 50 miles above the Kentucky town of Krypton (yes, really), moving roughly southeast at 37,000 miles per hour." That's NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office explaining what sent sonic booms and shook buildings across nine eastern states early yesterday morning. SpaceWeather.com has a full writeup, plus video. The explosion, says NASA, "generated an energy of roughly 2 tons of TNT." (Thanks, JF!)The Thursday Vordle. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak.
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It's Feast and Field at Fable Farm in Barnard, and this evening at 6 (gates at 5:30) they bring in Bandits on the Run, a trio of veteran NYC buskers. From here, we'll just let them take it: "Bandits on the Run is Brooklyn's very own criminal whimsy ring, composed of cellist/badass Bonanza Jellyfish, guitarist/fool Roy Dodger, and player-of-toys/clairvoyant Clarissa. The three specialize in coloring any old place with a distinctive atmosphere, charming the socks off an audience while trading off frontman roles, with each bandit adding their unique voice and songwriting prowess to the pot for a heady, mood-buoying brew."
Also starting at 6, as part of the four-day Calvin Coolidge celebration, there's a reception, book signing, and Vermont premiere of Coolidge: Rediscovering an American President at Woodstock's Town Hall Theater. Coolidge biographer Amity Shlaes, former Gov. Jim Douglas, and Coolidge reenactor Tracy Messer will all be on hand. There'll be a Q&A following the film.
And at 6:30, the Canaan Conservation Commission is hosting "An Evening of Wild Spaces" presented by Andrew French, who manages the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, and Matt Kelly, a forestry specialist with UNH's Cooperative Extension. The two will discuss modern strategies for managing and promoting resilient forests. At the Canaan Meeting House (no link).
This evening at 7, both in-person and online, the Museum of the White Mountains in Plymouth, NH, hosts Plymouth State historian Marcia Schmidt Blaine—who's also board chair of NH Humanities—for "The Great Stone Face: The Making of an Icon." Blaine will talk about how the Old Man of the Mountains became so symbolic of the state—and over time affected development of the national forest system.
And anytime, check out what JAM's highlighting this week, including: a workshop held by the VT Dept. of Library and the Smithsonian on how to rescue waterlogged photos, documents, paintings, and other family treasures; Gov. Phil Scott's July 27 press conference on flood updates; a video on rescuing the Maxfield Parrish stage set in Plainfield's town hall; and a video on the Hartford Community Coalition’s Take A Bite Out of Hunger initiative, which provides free summertime breakfasts and lunches for children and their families throughout the Upper Valley.
And this morning...
Let's turn to Josh Ritter and Aoife O'Donovan,
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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