A PLEASURE TO SEE YOU, UPPER VALLEY!
Well. Glad we got yesterday afternoon out of the way. Still, the news is mixed: We're in for a dry, partly sunny day today. The clouds won't move back in until later in the day, but with another cold mass elbowing its way toward us, temps will be well below normal. It may get to around 50 today, down below freezing tonight.There's a new player on the drone scene. Though he's not new to photography or videos, not by a long shot. Chad Finer has been documenting Norwich's citizens for years, and over the past couple of years has been out and about filming concerts in the area. Now he's been given a drone as a gift, and yesterday he put it through its paces over and around Jay Van Arman's old compost field near the top of Union Village Road above Norwich, setting the results to music by Spencer Lewis. Now, where were we? Oh, right...
NH announced 89 new positive test results yesterday and 752 specimens tested, bringing its total reported cases to 3,160. Of those, 1,231 have recovered (up 2) and 133 have died (no change), yielding a total current caseload of 1,796. Grafton County is up 2 to 58 all told; Sullivan is at 14. Merrimack County is now at 243 (up 6). Hanover, Lebanon, Enfield, Claremont, Newport, and New London each have between 1 and 4 current cases.
VT reported no new cases yesterday, putting its total at 926, with 785 people recovered. Of the active cases, 5 remain hospitalized. Deaths still stand at 53 deaths all told. Windsor's total is now 45 (one fewer than yesterday), while Orange County remains at 8 reported cases. The state has now done 20,871 tests altogether, adding 2,420 over the last four days.
Vermont has also added a new weekly summary that contains a wealth of information. It's got cases over time, positive tests over time, and case demographics. Cases have been disproportionately high among people over 80, thanks to the nursing-home outbreaks, and among African-American Vermonters. The average length of illness is 15 days. Yesterday was reopening day for salons and barber shops in NH. And the VN's Anna Merriman checked out the Colonial Barber Shop, Just Paradise, and Vanessa's Salon, all in West Leb. They're wiping every item and chair down, requiring masks, using disposable plastic smocks—and their schedules are booked. “It’s not the whole set up with a lot of people and magazines,” says one customer. “But it’s a great feeling to be able to see your hairdresser.”Add Pine and Kitchen 56 to the list of restaurants re/opening for takeout. Pine in Hanover is back, with family-style meals designed to be heated at home, writes Susan Apel on her Artful blog. And Kitchen 56 in Enfield, which had been due to open in March, is now planning to open for takeout on Thursday.LISTEN plans to reopen NH stores in June. The community organization, which depends heavily on its retail stores to fund its services, says that it expects to have its Miracle Mile and Canaan stores open early in the month; it's waiting for guidance from Vermont before reopening its WRJ location. "Please stay tuned for more information about each location, including additional details on when we will start accepting donations of gently-used items," it says on its website.Hanover's Dirt Cowboy Café sees boost from online coffee-bean orders. In particular, Dartmouth students and alumni from around the country have "rallied to support" the café since mid-April, The Dartmouth's Emily Lu and Archita Harathi report. The new online sales now provide about a quarter of the Dirt Cowboy's revenues, and have allowed owner Tom Guerra to hire back the head baker and take on a new barista in order to support takeout operations while he deals with website orders.Things are a little less certain on the rest of Main Street. Though Maven Salon reopened yesterday, Hanover Strings and Still North Books both intend to stick with curbside business, writes The D's Andrew Sasser. “We’ve stayed really busy with repairs and rentals, so we don’t really need to open up immediately,” Hanover Strings' Chris Rosenquest says, while Still North's Allie Levy says that given the nature of bookselling and the small size of her space, "we’re not confident that we can allow people to browse in the shop just yet." Town Manager Julia Griffin says the town is trying to determine occupancy numbers for Hanover businesses that do reopen. "I don’t know what the long run looks like; there are only guesses." That's Justin Barrett of WRJ's Piecemeal Pies talking to local food blogger Paul Hyson. "Are we going to be a take-out restaurant forever?...What will the second and third wave look like? Should we wait until there is a vaccine? Will the landlords wait with us?" What Barrett does know is that his plans to open a second restaurant in Stowe are on hold, his "Pie Day Friday" pre-order gambit is helping, and he's starting "Brunch-at-Home" packages with mimosa kits, cinnamon buns, smoked salmon pasties, and deep dish quiche.SPONSORED: Solar and wind power are now the cheapest forms of electricity in most energy markets—without taxpayer subsidies. And last month, renewables passed coal in total US power generation. This won’t stop fossil fuel interests from trying to hold back the tide, but this election year could mark a turning point between centralized, heavily subsidized approaches and new ones that are more community-based, economically resilient and environmentally secure. If you're looking to get involved in energy solutions that are safer, cleaner and closer to home, check out Solaflect Energy's website. The power is in our hands to make a difference!If you get a suitable offer of work, “you can’t refuse it just because you want to continue unemployment.” That's Richard Lavers, deputy commissioner of NH's Dept of Employment Security, outlining what's okay and what's not for employees as they consider returning to work. More than 125,000 NH workers filed for unemployment between March 15 and April 25, according to figures released last week. Covid-related issues—including health concerns and complying with the state's stay-home order, which lasts until May 31—will keep you eligible to continue unemployment benefits, Lavers says."State of residence" is not a protected class in NH. Parsing the legalities of New Hampshire's restrictions on out-of-staters, the policy nonprofit Citizens Count notes that while broad travel bans in other states have faced legal challenge, the limited scope of Gov. Chris Sununu's order—golf courses and campgrounds cannot serve out-of-staters unless they are members—may pass muster. However, Sununu has also suggested that businesses themselves may refuse out-of-state customers: age, sex, race, religion and other considerations are protected, but state of residence is not.Oh, thank goodness! "Vermont's maple creamee season appears immune to pandemic," VPR reports. Some places you don't even have to get out of your car; others, you wait in your car until the person ahead of you is done. Though the uncertainties abound: Some spots, including Fairlee's Whippi Dip, haven't yet decided whether they can open; others may decide that the creamee-crazed crowds are too unruly, and take a break. VT: In-person retail can reopen next Monday. At his press conference yesterday, Gov. Phil Scott announced that stores will be able to reopen as long as all employees wear masks, people maintain six feet of distance, and occupancy doesn't exceed 25 percent of legal capacity. Scott said customers won't be required to wear masks, though individual store owners can require it if they wish.In addition, VT has announced pop-up tests for asymptomatic frontline workers, including one this coming Thursday at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center. Snowbirds and returning college students who have been self-quarantining and are without symptoms at day 7 can get tested as well. You'll need to sign up, which you can do at the link.Even with reopening, it's going to be a long time before stores are really back. So Seven Days has launched a new effort, The Register, a "guide to shopping locally online." It will eventually list Vermont businesses selling their products for shipping, delivery, or curbside pickup—mostly locally owned, but there are also some chains with VT locations. They've started with Burlington, but say "more details and locations are coming every day."
Here we are, the second week of May. What'll you find in the woods? As Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast notes, "the forest floor is still sunny, but new leaves on our hardwoods are becoming more noticeable." There are red maple seedlings just starting to sprout, and American beech leafing out. Native strawberries are blooming, as are at least four varieties of violets. And eastern phoebe are out and about, while high up you'll see broad-winged hawks...Rose-breasted grosbeaks are back. Gary Engler got a lovely pic of one with its brilliant scarlet chest and posted it to FB, which elicited a whole string of comments about what else is out there now, including orioles and ruby-throated hummingbirds.Manure, compost, bagged fertilizer, bagged minerals... "we all want to offer our plants the perfect soil." Gardening Guy Henry Homeyer runs through the options: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sure, but also magnesium, calcium and sulfur; lime for many (though not all) plants, and he uses crushed granite, too. Meanwhile, compost? "It is pure gold, from a soil perspective." (VN, subscription reqd)Longtime city clerk Sandi Allard to retire in Lebanon. Allard, who has worked for the city for three decades and served as clerk for 17 of those, will step down at the end of the month. “I think it’s just the right time for us, my husband and me,” she tells the VN, saying that the move will allow her to spend more time with aging parents and her daughter in South Carolina.Could murder hornets survive in the twin states? Maybe, says Donald Chandler, an insect biologist at UNH, at least in southern New Hampshire. Based on what little he could find about the hornets' native range, he tells the Union Leader, "southern New Hampshire seems to be comparable to the very northernmost portions of their range in Eurasia." Northern NH is probably safe, he says. So... where does that leave us, eh?NH will appeal ruling striking down voter registration law. The long journey of the 2017 law, passed by what was then a GOP-controlled legislature, continues. Last month, Hillsborough Superior Court Judge David Anderson ruled that the law, which required people to prove they live where they’re trying to vote and added new penalties for those who don't comply, unconstitutionally burdened the right to vote. Now the state has filed a notice of appeal with the NH Supreme Court. Stay tuned... "My favorite bit of creepy abandoned railroad in NH." Judging from the pic, yep. It's over in Ossipee.
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Staying Connected
Tonight at 8, you could check out the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra's 2018 performance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony in the ornate, 18th-century Teatro dei Rinnovati in Siena, Italy. The DSO performed with the Orchestra Toscana dei Conservatori, whose players come from elite music academies throughout Tuscany.
Or you could check out what NYC's Baryshnikov Arts Center has on offer: through tonight, it's the Vertigo Dance Company's performance there last year, and starting Thursday, the vocalist and songwriter Somi, born to immigrant parents from Rwanda and Uganda, along with jazz guitarist Nir Felder and band.
Also from NYC, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is streaming multiple videos: full-length ballet videos, historic footage, and the company's "The Show Must Go On" quarantine videos.
Meanwhile, from clear across the country in SF, the Kitchen Sisters—the veteran radio production team of Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva—have pretty much their entire archive online, from their recent piece on the Climate Underground gathering that Al Gore and Alice Waters hosted last October, to a small village in Sicily in 1993, prepping in grand style for Joe DiMaggio to come visit the town where his parents grew up, to their series, hosted by Frances McDormand, on "activist archivists, rogue librarians, curators, collectors and historians." And a lot more.
Helping Out
The doc put together by an anonymous Daybreak reader of Upper Valley organizations working to help the region through the pandemic continues to grow. If you're casting about for organizations that could use help, it's a good place to go.
The Woodstock Area Relief Fund has been up for a month, and has already received $360,000 in donations and given out grants of up to $1000 to 111 households in Woodstock, Reading, Pomfret, Plymouth, Killington, Bridgewater, and Barnard. A lot of those have gone into paying rent or mortgage, as well as utilities, food, and auto expenses. They've also got caseworkers helping families sort through local resources that might help. If you live in one of the target towns and need to reach out for support, you'll find them at this link.
Reading Deeper
Over the last few days, Erin Bromage, an immunologist and bio prof at U Mass-Dartmouth, has become something of an internet star for his plain-language guide to what's safe to do and what's not when it comes to reopening. He is not an epidemiologist, he's quick to point out, but is quite good at making the science accessible. The basic infection formula, he notes, is exposure to virus x time—that is, even sitting in a restaurant nearby someone who's infected can be risky if you're there for a long time. He looks at what's known about "super-spreader" events, and concludes that places like restaurants, workplaces, weddings and funerals are all risky. It's more complicated than that, though: The post is extensive and well-documented and well worth your time.
And if you're interested in the "superspreader" research behind a lot of what Bromage writes, this piece by the Canadian editor of the online magazine Quillette pulls together what's known about "the everyday face-to-face scale of inches and feet" on which transmission occurs. (Thanks, RW!)
Children imitating cormorantsare even more wonderful than cormorants.
-- Kobayashi Issa, translated from the Japanese by Robert Hass.
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