GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly to mostly sunny, a bit warmer—except when the wind's blowing. Those gusts—from the south—are courtesy of a cold front that's dropping down from the north; it's also bringing a good chance of snow showers later today to northern towns in the region. Highs today in the upper 20s before dropping to the low single digits overnight.Dashing across the snow. "Powdery snow fell to just the right height: a wood nymph scurries as lightly as a snow flake, perhaps to deliver an early Valentine," writes Sue Showalter from Messer Pond in New London.Lebanon internal investigation details employees' misuse of resources. In particular, reports Clare Shanahan in the Valley News, it alleges that former public works maintenance manager Patrick McCarthy, who died last fall, used public funds to buy equipment and materials for his own landscaping business—and conspired with co-workers Damian Hetzel and Douglas Boisvert "to charge people for work done at municipal cemeteries using city equipment." The loss to the city was "approximately $13,620" it says in a press release. Hetzel and Boisvert were arrested last month and are currently on leave."The sandwich equivalent of finding out your high school crush likes you back." Okay, the guy's talking about a sandwich. But it happens to be a sandwich—a Reuben—made by Marsh Brothers Deli at The Little Store in downtown Leb. And Daniel Richardson at Family Destinations Guide likes it. A lot. "This is the Reuben that will ruin all other Reubens for you," he writes. He likes their other sandwiches, too (this was, let's hope, more than a single quick stop for lunch). And their breakfast burrito. And French toast. And potato salad. And, heck, the whole, "like a warm hug from your favorite aunt" place!With Cappadocia Bistro, the Oktays turn Burlington into WRJ North. Well, not really. But the owners of the Tuckerbox, Little Istanbul, and the extremely successful new Cappadocia Café here are about to add a new eatery to their lineup up north. Vural and Jackie Oktay and Vural's brother Hasan are aiming to open a WRJ-Cappadocia lookalike on Burlington's Church Street in March—including one of those eye-catching tiled ovens. The Bistro menu, writes Seven Days' Melissa Pasanen, will be a little different from down here: no breakfast pastries, but more street foods like döner.SPONSORED: Take a chance on a quilt to support schoolkids! It’s National Mentoring Month, and Claremont's talented Toni Williams has donated a gorgeous quilt for a raffle to support Everybody Wins! Vermont, the program that lives in local schools and pairs community members with children for a weekly one-on-one reading session. Half of raffle ticket sales will go to Claremont Everybody Wins! and half to the statewide Everybody Wins! Vermont. The quilt, in rich jewel tones, is about 70" by 70". Tickets (and pics) at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by a community member.Norwich, Corinth land $20K historic preservation grants. The money comes from VT's Division for Historic Preservation, which on Friday announced $357,207 going to 22 communities around the state. Norwich's grant will go to the Norwich Community Collaborative, which now owns and is restoring the former University Grange to create a community center; it will fund repairs on the building's historic wooden windows. Corinth's grant is going to restore its 1912 town hall's south wall. Full descriptions of all the grants at the link.Claremont Middle School teacher arrested, fired after stalking accusation. Erin Mullen, of Springfield, VT, who taught social studies at the school, had been served a "stalking/temporary order of protection" last week, ordering her to stay away from a former 7th grade student with whom she had spent time last summer, reports John Lippman in the VN. Mullen was arrested last Wednesday after she "made contact with the juvenile" at a Claremont community center, Lippman writes. She has pleaded not guilty to stalking and to violating the order, which had been sought by the student's mother.Suddenly hearing birdsong? Must be the hormones. Not yours, but theirs: in particular, black-capped chickadees and tufted titmice, writes Mary Holland on Naturally Curious. As daylight slowly grows, she explains, birds' pineal glands are producing less melatonin, which in turn boosts testosterone and other sex hormones. The result: Even though it can be frigid out, male birds are singing more to establish territory and attract females. The reverse happens in the fall, when shrinking daylight boosts melatonin and suppresses testosterone.2,037. That, it turns out, is how many Lego pieces go into making a replica of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, a design by the Lego user NMCbrick_ posted on the company's Lego Ideas, a DIY projects site. "I have added every possible detail to this model, from the slanted front to the angled, adjustable seats. I decided to build this model after going on this train in real life and feeling inspired by its unique design aspects," brick_ writes. "It is certain to make quite a presence on any display." (h/t to David Brooks' Granite Geek for noticing.)Distress signal sends rescuers up Mt. Lafayette. The signal came Sunday evening from three MA hikers who were training to climb Mt. Washington and had decided to tackle Franconia Ridge first. Once on the ridge, they found deep snow and white-out conditions, but decided turning back wasn't "prudent," NH Fish & Game writes in a press release. "Admittedly they panicked when they activated the SOS on their device but they knew it would take hours for rescuers to get to their location." A rescue team found them just below Greenleaf Hut. "The three were appreciative of the rescuers' efforts...which took them away from friends and family on Super Bowl Sunday," the agency writes.Planned EV fast-chargers in WRJ, Randolph might not happen after all. They were to be part of a charging network along VT's interstates funded by $9.3 million in federal money; four chargers that opened in Bradford last year were among the first in the country under the initiative. But last week, reports VT Public's Howard Weiss-Tisman, the Trump Administration ordered work on the program to stop, and VTrans has announced it's suspending the work "until further notice" from the feds. In all, 11 projects creating 62 more chargers had been slated to start work this spring.In VT, "each town forest has its own idiosyncratic history of how it came to be." Including one that's in a different town. The question that VT Public's Lexi Krupp has just tackled for Brave Little State—"What is the deal with Vermont's town forests?"—comes from a listener in Bristol. Whose town forest is in Lincoln, the legacy of a 1905 water-supply plan. Elsewhere, Krupp discovers, town forests are on old poor-farm land, or grew on a road the town no longer wanted to plow, or—as in West Windsor's case—on the flanks of a ski hill. And she checks in on the researchers trying to conduct a census.“If there’s an address already, what’s the point of the post code?” So asks CGP Grey in his lively explanation of the zip and other codes. He starts with the US: The first digit reflects which of 10 regions the address is in (0 covers New England and, inexplicably, NJ, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands). The next four direct mail to sorting facilities, not states or cities. Most other countries have a variation of this, though with a bit more charm (hello London, E14!). Ireland has invented a whole new system to take advantage of the digital world. It's “random” and “horrifying” and “so precise it becomes the perfect address.”
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Fleece vests, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies... Strong Rabbit has updated the Daybreak page to keep up with the changing weather. Plus, of course, the usual: t-shirts, long-sleeved tees, the Daybreak jigsaw, those perfect hand-fitting coffee/tea mugs, and as always, "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Check it all out at the link!
. After spending nearly a year in prison for “violating public morality" when a reader complained his 2014 novel
Using Life
had caused heart palpitations due to sexual content, Naji moved to the US. He'll be talking with Dartmouth prof and Middle East Studies chair Tarek El-Ariss about those events, and about free expression in the face of censorship. 4:30 pm in Haldeman 41 and online.
Brooke Winslow, a field researcher with the Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean will talk about her work alongside National Geographic explorer Rachael Zoe Miller, using forensic techniques to investigate microplastic and microfiber pollution in the Arctic and Antarctic as they work to pinpoint microplastics pollution and its sources. 5:30 pm via Zoom.
It's the first in a series of three online art history presentations by Jane Oneail, of Culturally Curious in Manchester, presented by the libraries in Lyme, Canaan, and Plainfield. "From the poetic simplicity of Jacob Lawrence to the cosmopolitan portrait photographs of James Van Der Zee, this era produced works that continue to resonate today. Discover the visionaries who gave voice to the African American experience and forever changed the landscape of American culture." 6 pm via Zoom, register at the link.
Caldwell, a retired Congregational minister who lives in N. Wolcott, VT, spends a good bit of his time on skis and in canoes and out in the wilderness, and his essays both his adventures and his meditations. 7 pm.
The Tuesday poem.
Why do we bother with the rest of the day,the swale of the afternoon,the sudden dip into evening,then night with his notorious perfumes,his many-pointed stars?This is the best—throwing off the light covers,feet on the cold floor,and buzzing around the house on espresso—maybe a splash of water on the face,a palmful of vitamins—but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,dictionary and atlas open on the rug,the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,a cello on the radio,and, if necessary, the windows—trees fifty, a hundred years oldout there,heavy clouds on the wayand the lawn steaming like a horsein the early morning.
"Morning" by Billy Collins,
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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