GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
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Okay, now it’s getting hot. Fortunately, today’s temps will be the hottest of the week, what with a cold front arriving tomorrow. Still, for today we get highs reaching 90—and with that front approaching, the air ahead of it is unsettled and that kind of heat pretty much begs for a thunderstorm, so we may get one this afternoon. Lows tonight will be in the upper 60s. One note from the weather folks: “Despite the extremely warm air temperatures, water temperatures are still quite frigid, so any recreators should be sure to take the proper precautions, including wearing a life jacket.”
We’re still looking up. Because…
After yesterday’s Post Mills Experimental Balloon and Airship Association photos I figured we’d be done, but then Bob Wagner sent in this shot: a guy and his wife sitting on a suspended “bench” with the balloon as backdrop. And clearly, the guy’s really happy with where he is right then.
Meanwhile, clouds have also been pretty amazing. Here’s Annemieke McLane, who was headed through Norwich to rehearsal and stopped to grab this shot;
And Herb Swanson checking in from Lyndonville with yesterday morning’s attention-seeking cloud cover.
Henry takes notes. Or it’s more like he takes dictation—transcribing bird calls. Which, in DB Johnson’s Lost Woods this week, has Eddie and Auk more than a little flummoxed: “We don’t get why you write down everything the birds sing, but you don’t even know what they’re saying…”
The art of saying yes. A warm and enthusiastic welcome back to Duncan Green, whose profiles of life around the Upper Valley last summer graced these pages, and who is back for another round over the next six weeks. Plunging into last Thursday’s rainstorm, he headed for Enfield, poked around… and wound up with this profile of Tom Morrill: pastor at New Beginnings Church in Lebanon, carpenter, and, with his wife Jennifer, the moving force behind Carpenter’s Cup Coffee in Enfield. “As a man of faith who values community and working with his hands, Morrill says his three jobs satisfy his ‘social, physical, and spiritual bugs,’” Duncan writes.
And what happens when a pharmacy says no. On Friday, reports Clare Shanahan in the Valley News, the VT pharmacy chain Smilin’ Steves Pharmacies went up with a Facebook post announcing that its pharmacies inside Woodstock’s Ottauquechee Health Center, in Springfield, and in Ludlow would all close for good at the end of the day. In an interview yesterday, one of the owners tells Shanahan, “This was out of our control and we are trying to do everything we can to help correct the situation here and now and forever as long as we can.” The move leaves Woodstock with no pharmacy; DH, of which the Health Center is a part, is looking into what it can do.
SPONSORED: Art is popping up in unexpected places around Billings Farm! This season of Art on the Barns by local artist Gail Rickards transforms historic barns into a playful outdoor gallery inspired by the beauty of the farm and satisfaction in daily chores. Thoughtful, surprising, and full of personality, this exhibition blends contemporary art and agriculture in delightful ways! Giant popcorn kernels climb silos, trophies line the cow barn, and witty installations invite visitors to see the farm through a new lens. Don’t miss the artist reception Thursday, May 28, 5:30PM – 7:30PM. Sponsored by Billings Farm & Museum.
So, just what research is being done at Hubbard Brook? As you’ll remember, the experimental forest last week got the heartening news that the US Forest Service has no plans to close it as part of its restructuring. NHPR’s Julia Barnett sat down with Anthea Lavallee, director of the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, to talk about what the researchers there are looking at. There’s long-term monitoring of air quality, air temperature, water quality and quantity, how the forest is changing structurally, and much more, but also experiments like simulating ice storms—research that got shared with power companies and state officials. Lavallee explains why it all matters.
Berlin, NH police chief spotlights “glaring failure” in woman’s death. As the Globe’s Steven Porter notes (no paywall), the state last fall declared that the Berlin PD’s actions were “wholly insufficient” in the leadup to the murder of Sandra Marisol Fuentes Huaracha by her estranged husband last summer. Now, the department has released its own review of the nearly three dozen calls for service that followed Michael Gleason Jr.’s release from jail—including one warning that Gleason had talked about harming his wife; it went nowhere. The officer who took it has been fired. The report recommends that all domestic violence calls to be reviewed by a supervisor.
SPONSORED: Learn Spanish, French, or Italian fast! The Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures at Dartmouth specializes in immersive language experiences using dramatic techniques, rhythmic drills, and energetic reinforcement strategies to make learning an engaging experience. This speeds language learning, increases language retention, and has participants speaking and understanding quickly. Our Accelerated Language Programs (ALPs) run July 7 through July 12 on the Dartmouth campus. Learn more here or at the burgundy link. Sponsored by the Rassias Center.
In Franklin, NH, a staple-industry staple. Acme Staple Co. was founded in Philly in 1894, moved for a time to Camden, NJ, and then to Franklin in 1959. At the time of its founding, owner Tom Gold tells the Union Leader’s Jason Schreiber, its owner held the patent for staples that were glued together—in other words, the form we know them in now. Which is one reason why Acme is still one of the three major staple manufacturers in the country. Its niche these days is specialty staples—like the ones used to attach wire to farms’ fence posts, ones used for medical purposes, and the cable tacker guns Verizon uses to install fiber optic wire. Lots more staple minutiae at the link.
SPONSORED: Farm-to-Table fundraiser and silent auction at Fable Farm. Gather your friends and join the Upper Valley Waldorf School on Saturday, May 30 from 6–9pm for a farm-to-table fundraiser to benefit the school. This lively celebration kicks off summer with a thoughtfully crafted tasting menu, beverages to complement the farm-to-table offerings, and live music by local singer/songwriter Jason Cann. Buy tickets at the burgundy link ~ sales close Tuesday, May 26 at 11:30pm. The silent auction (check it out here!) includes fantastic offerings and is now open for bidding. Sponsored by the Upper Valley Waldorf School.
"More than ever before in my career, (parents) want to make up their own schedule." Despite VT’s commitment to the pre-RFK Jr. vaccine schedule, doctors like St. Albans pediatrician Tracy Tyson say vaccine skepticism is higher than ever. After the CDC removed some recommendations last year, VT passed legislation ensuring that the state can buy vaccines from other sources and requiring insurers to pay for them. Still, like everywhere, VT parents are increasingly vaccine-wary, which has strained doctors forced to build vaccine consultations into already packed schedules, VTDigger's Olivia Gieger reports. Some parents refuse vaccines without discussion.
The hard-working cats of NYC’s bodegas. For New Yorkers, bodegas are often the center of the neighborhood—corner stores with familiar faces and critical groceries. In some, the friendliest face has whiskers, pointy ears, a job to do, and a story. Kiki, who lives at a bodega in Bushwick, Brooklyn, hangs out on the ATM, where it’s always warm. “When people try to use the machine, she stares them down until they apologize,” reads her bio on BodegacatsofNY.com. Prince, in Soho, has ruled his bodega for 12 years and was profiled in the NYT. “That did not change anything about the way he operates. He does not care what you think of him.”
The Tuesday Crossword. With puzzle choreographer Laura Braunstein’s regular mini.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
The Dartmouth Libraries kick off the Baker Bells Festival. It’s two days of workshops, a lecture, and a public concert all focused on those big bells. Today at 2:30, carillonist Tiffany Ng and music librarian Memory Apata lead a workshop on how artists from a range of disciplines might imagine using the carillon; at 4:30, college organist Henry Danaher along with Ng and Apata lead a workshop on change ringing. Tomorrow, Ng gives a keynote on the history of tower bells and carillons in North America, and at 6 pm tomorrow, there’s a live concert. Details on all of it at the link.
The Orford Historical Society hosts Mary Adams for “Redcoats and Rebels: New Hampshire and the American Revolution”. Adams, who runs the Granite State Stories program at the historical society, will talk about “the people, conflicts, and extraordinary events that shaped New Hampshire during the American Revolution.” It’s the featured program for the society’s annual meeting, which begins at 6 pm in the Orford Congregational Church.
At the Howe Library, Randall Balmer and “One Nation Under Siege: The First Amendment and the Perils of Christian Nationalism”. The author and Dartmouth religion prof will talk about the First Amendment, its place in promoting religious pluralism, and the efforts of Christian nationalists “who claim that the United States is and always has been a Christian nation [to] undermine the separation of church and state.” 6:30 pm in the Mayer Room and online.
At the Tracy Memorial Library in New London, Adair Mulligan with her talk on “The Connecticut: New England’s Great River”. The former executive director of the Hanover Conservancy and conservation director of the Connecticut River Joint Commissions will talk about the river’s history and what it takes to manage its health and ecosystems. 6:30 pm.
The Lebanon High School spring concert at Lebanon Opera House. It’s a full-on display of LHS’s ensembles: The Concert Band will open the program with the entirety of Little Mexican Suite, composed by Mexican composer Nubia Jaime-Donjuan, and a variety of other pieces. The Choirs and Superlatives then take the stage with contemporary takes on classics like the Dies Irae and Kyrie Eleison, as well as tunes by Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder and music from Hamilton. The Jazz Band closes the concert, with works by Duke Ellington and others. 7 pm.
Dartmouth’s Political Economy Project hosts Kevin Erdmann for “Housing Affordability and the Abundance Agenda”. Erdmann is a land use and housing finance scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, who among other things specializes in the role of regulation in shaping the housing market. He’ll be asking: “Can housing be made more affordable without significant regulatory reform that threatens powerful vested interests?” 7:30 pm in Rocky 001.
The Tuesday poem.
Stone by stone, body by body in the grass:
For this we trade our lone compass,
Become swans instead, adrift in glaze-
Light, kilned in the arms of each other
Into vessel-vassal new. Or shrew,
As the case may be. What would you do?
Listen to the footsteps in the thistles.
Put the kettle on for tea, and whisper it to me.
— “On Marriage” by Meghan O’Rourke.
See you tomorrow.
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