GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly sunny, quiet, back below freezing. High pressure's moving in, clouds are (sorta) moving out, and yesterday's cold front has dropped temps back into a comfortable winter range, mostly in the high 20s. Winds today from the northwest, could get gusty this morning. Down to the mid single digits tonight.A bower of fresh snow. Sunday night's inch or so stayed in the trees at least for a bit before temperatures warmed. Here's the view yesterday morning into the Boston Lot network from DHMC, by Meg Newman.Claremont woman dies in collision with VT plow truck. Last night shortly after 8 pm, VT State Police responded to the crash on I-91 in Westminster. There was light precipitation falling and roadways were wet, and an investigation found that Kimberly Barsalou, 53, had driven her Dodge Journey into the back of a state plow truck that was out salting the highway. Barsalou was pronounced dead at the scene, the VSP says in a press release. The truck driver was taken to Springfield Hospital with minor injuries.Winters back in the day: weeks of sub-zero temps, roads "akin to driving in a canyon," a roof collapse. In the VN, Steve Taylor—who, as the bio line reads, "has lived through 85 Upper Valley winters"—casts a look back at what things used to be like. He starts with the 1970 collapse of the roof of the gym at Leb's Hanover Street School (thankfully, everyone got out in time), moves on to locals' reminiscences of snowfalls that were really snowfalls, and then to how people got by: ribbons on car antennas that might be visible over snowbanks, tire chains, the "roll of the dice" of trying to start a car on a cold morning.At the heart of Parish Players' new production: a painting that used to hang in Greta Garbo's home. Providence, RI playwright Gray Horan is Garbo's grand niece, and when she was young, she could see the 1913 Robert Delaunay painting—known both as La Parisienne and Woman With an Umbrella—whenever she visited her great aunt. Until, one day, it was auctioned off and disappered into a vault. So, she tells Artful's Susan Apel, "I decided to bring it back to life as the central character" in Twelve Intallations, her new play. Its world premiere is up on Thetford Hill on Feb. 14; Terry Samwick directs.SPONSORED: Help someone right now! At Hearts You Hold, the locally based nonprofit that supports immigrants, migrants, and refugees across the US by asking them what they need, we're flooded with requests for sweaters, jackets, gloves, and other cold-weather clothing. At the burgundy link or here, you'll find a pregnant migrant worker in central VT who needs help with prenatal doctor's visits (and more), recent immigrants to Lebanon from the Dominican Republic and Haiti who need help with the basics, and people from all over the world who need a hand getting set up. Sponsored by Hearts You Hold.How does a venerable community arts venue regain its footing post-pandemic? That's what the Chandler, in Randolph, wants to figure out. It's been around for over a century, but it faces reduced attendance, rising costs, and more complex demands on its mostly-volunteer resources. So among other things, it's launched not just a strategic planning process, but a survey aimed not just at people who've been shows or exhibitions there, but people who've never set foot in it—and might not even live in Randolph. That's at the burgundy link. The Herald's story about what's going on is here.And speaking of surveys, are you up for counting birds? NH's annual Backyard Winter Bird Survey, overseen by NH Audubon, is this coming weekend, and as David Brooks writes on his Granite Geek blog, it's a chance "for citizen scientists to contribute to the nation’s knowledge base without having to go anywhere." Over nearly four decades, the survey has charted the winter-time rise of eastern bluebirds and Carolina wrens, the decline of evening grosbeaks, a sudden 2024 spike in pine warblers and turkey vultures... VT's several-week version ended Jan. 5.SPONSORED: Who makes the best burger in the Upper Valley? The Upper Valley Burger Battle is on during February and you get to be the judge! Visit participating restaurants, try their burger and then vote – and get entered to win a $25 gift certificate for voting! Hit the burgundy link or here for a list of all burgers to try... and get eating! The Upper Valley Burger Battle is sponsored by Casella and the Upper Valley Business Alliance. Sponsored by the UVBA.Hikers rescued from chest-deep snow on Mt. Washington. The two women called 911 Sunday evening, and after it was determined they were not far from the Jewett Trail, were directed toward it. But as NH Fish & Game writes, after fighting through deep snow and spruce traps, "they ended up on the trail several times but could not follow it as it had been completely erased by wind and snow." With temps below zero and winds at 50-60 mph, rescuers headed up, reaching the summit at midnight Sunday and finding the hikers at 1:50 am yesterday. They were "were alive and coherent but suffering from cold weather injuries," and were brought out yesterday morning. Details at the link.UNH-built instrument to help explore "the boundaries of our cosmic neighborhood" to launch later this year. It's called IMAP-Lo, and as Mara Hoplamazian reports for NHPR, it's designed to collect and analyze neutral atoms that have wandered into the solar system. “By detecting the region outside of our solar system, by detecting actual galactic matter, we can start to unravel a whole myriad of questions about our origins within the universe,” says UNH physics prof Nathan Schwadron, who led the design team. Once in space, IMAP-Lo will orbit the sun about a million miles closer than Earth.In Montpelier, legislators say key questions remain unanswered in school reform plan. In hearings last Thursday and Friday, VT Ed Secy Zoie Saunders laid out some basic numbers underlying the administration's plan to consolidate school districts and shake up ed funding. But as Seven Days' Alison Novak reports, legislators want more detail: "I just can't fathom where the actual cost savings is coming from. Quite frankly, what is being cut?" one state rep asked. Norwich Rep. Rebecca Holcombe, who once held Saunders' job, pressed for a step-by-step outline of how the state would get to Saunders' "imagined future."
Meanwhile, another feature of the plan came in for grilling from the state Board of Ed yesterday. That's because it proposes eliminating the board's responsibility for education rulemaking and shifting it to the Agency of Education. Board members, reports VTDigger's Ethan Weinstein, objected both to losing more power and questioned whether the agency has the bandwidth, since it's already behind on enforcing existing rules. "This conversation doesn’t feel like we’re all in partnership" on improving education, Saunders shot back.
There may be an "uptick" in federal immigration enforcement in VT, but it's anecdotal so far. A few weeks ago, a group that offers legal assistance to asylum-seekers in the state launched a report form to try to track activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers; it had gotten five reports as of last Thursday, VTDigger's Shaun Robinson wrote on Friday, though advocates also cite phone calls and emails. Brett Stokes, who runs a legal clinic at VT Law & Grad School in SoRo, tells Robinson, “We’re now seeing...a significant rise in [ICE] being out in the field...which was pretty rare here.”More details emerge on "Ziz"—the leader behind the group tied to border patrol shooting. Jack LaSota, a 34-year-old computer engineer who uses they/them pronouns and whose pseudonym was adopted by the group, appears to have faked their own death by drowning in 2022—only to be detained by police at the scene of a stabbing in Vallejo, CA three months later. The reporters chasing the story for the OpenVallejo site, Anna Bauman and Matthew Brown (via VTDigger), dig into LaSota's story, those murders in PA and CA, and links to the two people involved in the border patrol shootout.Could one answer to VT's housing shortage be manufactured and modular homes? You can build them indoors in a matter of days, over the winter, with economies of scale, and it's less physically demanding work than the traditional months-long process, Norwich housing researcher Jeff Lubell tells Carly Berlin on VT Public. Lubell is one of the authors of a new report commissioned by the state that recommends ways to grow VT's "off-site construction industry"—modular and manufactured homes. Berlin looks into the advantages and the one big hurdle: the need for a lot of upfront investment.“This town saved me, and it’s also eating me alive." In the years since Tara Reese, Rose Friedman, and Erica Heilman created a spur-of-the-moment Hardwick, VT community-building engine called the Civic Standard, it's gained attention for its ability to bring the entire town together: to its plays and Wednesday dinners and honky tonks and town-feature planning meetings. In a masterfully written, clear-eyed piece about the Civic in The New Yorker, Chelsea Edgar looks at the effort, born from personal and collective grief at the suicide of Reese's son, Finn, the connections it's created, and its embrace of the town and all its quirks. Take my word: You should read this.
“The misconception is you just pick them up and blow.” Ah, no. It takes much more to master the bagpipes, which Stuart Smillie, a producer at Great Big Story, quickly learns. First stop: Kilberry Bagpipes, the last artisan maker in Edinburgh. There’s a two-year waiting list, despite a starting price of £1,200 (close to $1,500). Owner Gordon Nicholson walks Stuart through the basics, which turns out as well as you’d expect—though Nicholson also owns the kilt shop next door, so at least Smillie can dress the part. Next stop, torturing the good people of Edinburgh with a short concert. Thankfully, very short.How many dogs in the pic? No, no, first look at the photo. Then read the explanation.Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
Sponsored by the Hanover Garden Club, longtime gardening writer and author Tovah Martin will Zoom in for a talk on what to grow inside: "Whether your home features sunny windows or shady sills, is Sahara dry or comfortably spa-like, Tovah’s lecture will leave you filled with hope, a suggested plant list, and her first-hand wisdom for plant care and cultivation." 1 pm at the Montshire, or you can register for Zoom.
The VT Center for Ecostudies continues its monthly series at Putnam's vine/yard in WRJ with Jordon Tourville, the Appalachian Mountain Club's terrestrial ecologist. He'll be talking about the research, still in its infancy, on mycorrhizal fungi and their impacts on forests. "Using examples from mountain forests in the Northeast, we'll discuss how these relationships work and what we still need to understand about these unlikely allies," VCE writes. 7 pm.
The Tuesday poem.
My father could go down a mountain faster than IThough I was first one up.Legs braced or with quick steps he slid the gravel slopesWhere I picked cautious footholds.Black, Iron, Eagle, Doublehead, Chocorua,Wildcat and Carter Dome–He beat me down them all. And that last other mountain.And that dark other mountain.
— "That Dark Other Mountain", by
Robert Francis.
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?
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,
.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob 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! Subscribe at no cost at:
Thank you!