GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A quick note: I was floored by the response to yesterday's tribute to Mark Travis (here, if you missed it). A heartfelt thank you to everyone who wrote in: You're unbelievably kind and thoughtful. I'll be responding to each of you, but it's going to take a bit—just wanted you to know. Now, then...Slight chance of showers to start, getting sunny eventually. The showers are thanks to the warm front that came through last night. So are today's highs, which are going to reach the mid or upper 60s. Winds today from the south, lows tonight in the mid 50s. Shirtsleeve weather!Somewhere nearby in New Hampshire... There's an exquisite Japanese garden on private property. And recently, at what looks like near-peak foliage, videographer Peter Bloch got a chance to fly his drone over and around it. If you're looking for beauty and tranquility this morning, Peter's got you in his capable hands. And it's well worth clicking the "Show More" button at the link to learn from the garden's creator how it came about.So, there's an election today. And though odds are good you know exactly where to go if you haven't already cast your ballot, here's info on polling places in both states.
In Vermont, opening hours vary by town, but all polls close at 7 pm. Just click on a town's dot on the map at the link and you'll get location and hours. Also, don't forget to bring the ballot you got mailed—if you still have it. If not, go to the polls anyway and you'll be asked to fill out and sign a “No Ballot Cast” form, which attests that you haven't already voted. VTDigger's Kristen Fountain has other ins and outs of election-day voting in the state.
In New Hampshire, both opening and closing hours vary by town or city. At the link, the Secretary of State's office makes you put in street name and number in addition to town, but if you're in a town with a single polling place, just pick at random from the dropdowns. Meanwhile, the Portsmouth Herald's Margie Cullen has a piece on what you'll need to bring to the polls if you're already registered and what you'll need if you're planning to register.
And a note just for you, Croydon voters: While town officials originally posted that polls would be open from 11 am to 7 pm, yesterday they announced that they'll be open starting at 8 am. As the Secy of State's office noted yesterday, "On the 2000 state ballot, voters in Croydon were asked if polls should open at 11 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. Croydon officials believed the voters had voted to change the polling hours in 2000, but the Secretary of State’s Office determined that was not the case."
That's the title of a new five-part podcast series by former
Valley News
reporter Frances Mize and hosted by JAM. As JAM writes, "The project is less interested in how local people are voting than how they feel about the country today and how they feel about its future." Mize covered the region, talking to people in the BJ's lot, "off the commons [and] up in the hills of Chelsea," at a bus stop in Hartford, and—among plenty of others—to a civics teacher, a baker, and a 13-year-old novelist who are all "trying to make sense of the country and their place in it."
SPONSORED: Step into Reminiscence, where every drumbeat pulses with history and each movement shines a light on Middle Eastern and North African culture. This Sunday, November 10th, be transported as over a dozen dancers and five choreographers from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia, honor long-lived traditions. With a live orchestra filling the room with vibrant melodies, you'll feel the richness of cultures woven together in harmony. Don't miss the tour stop at Lebanon Opera House this coming Sunday! Tickets at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Raq-On Dance.Hartford PD hires crime/data analyst. The move to create the position was actually announced about 10 days ago, with the hiring of Amie Wunderlich to fill the role. Hartford's is one of a few police departments in Vermont to deploy someone to collect, analyze, and interpret crime data "to identify trends, patterns, and emerging threats within the community." Fine-grained data analysis has been a key police tool in big cities ever since the NYPD pioneered the approach three decades ago, but is rare in smaller communities. Hartford plans to use it to boost community partnerships and communication.The Notch opens. “I think a lot of people in this area have been watching this project for years and waiting." That's Leb's Sara Burgess talking to Clare Shanahan in the Valley News about the climbing gym that opened Friday on LaBombard Road in Lebanon. It's clear there's been demand: Not only did the gym twice sell out pre-opening memberships, but co-owner Noah Lynd tells Shanahan, “At times it has been so busy we could have even built a bigger space." And that's just since Friday. Shanahan details what's there.SPONSORED: The Villalobos Brothers raise a joyful noise for Day of The Dead! If you’ve heard them you know there’s no sadness with these guys! Wear your Halloween costume one more time, or come as you are! Join us for a celebration of All Hallows and fall folk traditions with Dia de Muertos as its heart. The Villalobos Brothers always lift our spirits in the “valley”! Saturday, November 9th: Concert from 6:30-8pm; family-friendly music & mask-making at 2pm. All at Union Episcopal Church, 133 Old Church Road, Claremont. Sponsored by West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts.On 60 acres in Pomfret, six sheep and a shape-shifting cabin. The sheep are Babydoll Southdowns and Merinos—plus a guard llama and some chickens, all part of Yvette Lanneaux's Sajima Farm. But the real star of the NYT's profile at the link (gift article) is the cabin, created by Dutch designer Caspar Schols, which is 300 square feet when closed up, but can be expanded to 500 square feet with a glassed-in or open-air solarium, depending on the weather, by pulling back a portion of the building (you'll see). “It’s going to work so well here," says Lanneaux. "It looks like it was meant for this.” (Thanks, CJ!)Interested in marathons? Check out the migration of Hudsonian Godwits. The shore birds—which sometimes stop over on Lake Champlain—will fly day and night "at speeds between 29 and 50 miles per hour, migrating up to 6,000 miles at a time without stopping to eat, drink or rest," writes Mary Holland on her Naturally Curious blog. "Their migration totals nearly 10,000 miles once they reach the tip of South America from the subarctic." And then there's the Bar-tailed Godwit, one of which was tracked flying from Alaska to Tasmania—8,425 miles in 11 days.That Daybreak election resources guide. You've probably done all the prep-work you're going to do, but just in case you haven't, it's at the link—with links to the hard work done by news organizations all around the twin states.A couple of new New Hampshire pieces worth noting.
NHPR's Josh Rogers takes a big-picture look at the battle to control the state House and Senate, as well as where Democrats are hoping they might flip one or more of the four Exec Council seats currently held by Republicans (the District 2 seat, held by Democrat Cinde Warmington, is widely expected to go to Lebanon Democrat Karen Liot Hill).
And NH Bulletin's Claire Sullivan goes in-depth on five state Senate contests (none around here) that could determine control of that chamber. Republicans currently hold a 14-10 majority.
You probably know which Upper Valley town used to be called Ely. But what's the current name for Turnersburg? On her Happy Vermont podcast, Erica Houskeeper talks to Steve Farrow, who teaches geography at Community College of VT and grew up in Holland, VT, up by the border and about as small-town NEK as you can get. They talk over town-name roots, "lost" towns like Philadelphia, VT. And how town names got changed. Like Ely, though it still graces the mine in Vershire. And Turnersburg, which is now Chelsea. And Mansfield, which you know as Stowe.Okay, okay, I'm a sucker for red sprite photos. But hey, they only last a few milliseconds, so it's not like capturing them is just a matter of setting up your camera and taking a few photos. It took Chinese photographer Wang Xin hours in multiple thunderstorms near Shanghai to get his—which has just won the Royal Meteorological Society's Weather Photographer of the Year contest. There are other transporting images, too: the volcanoes around Mt. Bromo in eastern Java; hoarfrost in England's Peak District; a full circular rainbow near Seattle (taken through a plane window). Full gallery here.
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We may be the middle of nowhere to everyone else in VT and NH, but
we
know what's good! Strong Rabbit's Morgan Brophy has come up with the perfect design for "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Plus you'll find the Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, as well as sweatshirts, tees, a fleece hoodie, and, as always, the fits-every-hand-perfectly Daybreak mug. Check it all out at the link!
The Hanover Garden Club (which, just so you know, has members from a hefty number of towns in the Upper Valley) presents Dechant's talk today at 1 pm at the Montshire Museum. The professional floral arranger (after a long career in academia and business) will focus on floriography—the use of flowers to send coded messages to express feelings that could not be spoken aloud in Victorian England; on how flowers “talked” to people back then; and on how floral design practice has evolved since.
The Tuesday poem.
Arching under the night sky inkywith black expansiveness, we pointto the planets we know, wepin quick wishes on stars. From earth,we read the sky as if it is an unerring bookof the universe, expert and evident.Still, there are mysteries below our sky:the whale song, the songbird singingits call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.We are creatures of constant awe,curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom,at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.And it is not darkness that unites us,not the cold distance of space, butthe offering of water, each drop of rain,each rivulet, each pulse, each vein.O second moon, we, too, are madeof water, of vast and beckoning seas.We, too, are made of wonders, of greatand ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,of a need to call out through the dark.
— "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa" by
. Limón, the US Poet Laureate, wrote it in honor of NASA's Europa Clipper mission.
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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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