GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Chance of snow then rain showers. But also: partly sunny. This is what they're talking about when they say "unsettled." Today's system is actually different from the one that came through last night, but either way we're facing a chance of snow, a chance of rain in the afternoon, and then a chance of snow again tonight. And yet, there could also be some sun out there and temps will get up into the low or mid 40s. Lows in the low or mid 20s, gusty winds tonight.Seems like a good day for some color! And a definite sign of spring: snow crocuses two weeks earlier than last year, writes Lynn Sheldon from Lyme.“We always knew the area was special, but it became doubly special with the outpouring of support and help on Sunday." That's Dr. Rand Swenson, talking to the Valley News's Christina Dolan about what happened after his wife, Mardrey, who had Alzheimer's, wandered away from her West Leb home early Sunday morning. Her body was discovered in the Connecticut that afternoon, and in between, Rand Swenson says, in addition to rescuers a "remarkable number of friends, acquaintances, and schoolmates of my children came out to spend their Sunday trying to find her.” Mardrey had taught birthing at APD and was a "fierce" advocate for nursing mothers.Little Istanbul opens second store in Burlington. The six-year-old WRJ store, owned by the Tuckerbox's Vural and Jackie Oktay, is getting a twin venture on Burlington's Church Street, reports Melissa Pasanen in Seven Days. It will be just down the street from Istanbul Kebab House, the Turkish restaurant owned by Vural's brother, Hasan, and will be co-owned with Nihal Oktay, Hasan's wife. The new venture is "an immigration story and a business story," Jackie tells Pasanen. Like the original, the new store will sell Turkish goods, food, and spices. Meanwhile, work continues on the Oktays' new WRJ spot next to the Tuckerbox; it got its wood-fired oven installed this week.In New London, Nicole Densmore's presence "floats through the area like a melody." Densmore has been teaching music to students for three decades, first in Claremont, now in New London, and she's the subject of a "hometown hero" profile by Ray Duckler in the Monitor (possible paywall). She plays flute, works with the youth choir at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, and, more than anything, makes sure music made by young people shows up everywhere in New London—including town meeting and Veteran's Day. “You’re in tears after 30 seconds because they sing it with such conviction," she says.SPONSORED: Hold your corgis! THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG offers "constant laughs" at Northern Stage! So what if we have an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines)? The show must go on! The Murder at Haversham Manor is hanging on by a thread, so make sure you see it before it falls apart completely… The Valley News says this play "entertains so thoroughly that you forget everything but the present spectacle!" Don’t miss it at Northern Stage, now through 4/14 in the Byrne Theater. Sponsored by Northern Stage."I hoped writing about this would allow me to ski more this winter. I think it's had the opposite effect." That's Bea Burack, who spent months working on the recent five-part Daybreak series on New Hampshire skiing in the age of climate change, offering a quick look behind the scenes to Melanie Plenda on NH PBS's "The State We're In". The two talked over Bea's research into the economic and personal impact of warming winters and declining snowfall. The question, she says, is "can technology keep up and can these resorts get more strategic, or are things just going to change really dramatically." Series here.It takes courage to rewrite Huckleberry Finn, but Percival Everett "more than pulls it off." Everett's new novel, James, has just been published, and it's drawing flat out raves. Including from the Norwich Bookstore's Carin Pratt, who writes in this week's Enthusiasms that by telling the story from the point of view of James—the slave who in Twain's version goes by "Jim"—Everett "not so much turned the book on its head but certainly rolled it around." "It's a tense, propulsive adventure," Carin adds, "that will keep you up reading."SPONSORED: Come to a night of storytelling with Cindy Pierce at the Briggs Opera House! Monday, March 25 at 7 pm, Cindy will touch your heart, make you laugh, and probably draw a tear or two as she shares "Wrangling the Drift", about her mother, Nancy, and her family’s journey with dementia. She'll focus on her experience as a caregiver to share moments of high comedy and profound loss—familiar to so many who have supported a loved one with dementia—and take you on a tour that just might help you discover that we're all in this together. A fundraiser for the Walk to End Alzheimer's and JAM.The wonders of skunk cabbages. No, seriously! For one thing, writes Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast, they start emerging while most wildflowers are still dormant—"an early season feat they accomplish by producing their own heat." Inside what are called "spathes" are 50 or more tiny florets, which emit the scent that gives them their name to attract insects when they're ready for pollination. Also out there this week in the woods: pussy willows, which provide a key early food source for bees. Oh, and also, Elise reports: those red maple stems flowered.Trying to give a hardy plant survivor a boost. There are three spots on earth where the Jesup's Milk Vetch grows: two in NH and one in VT, along limestone outcroppings over the Connecticut. Its delicate violet flowers bloom in May, something of a miracle, given the threat of ice and flooding. But the MA-based Native Plant Trust, reports Amanda Gokee in the Morning Report newsletter, is growing several hundred of the plants in its greenhouse, and come May, the Trust's Michael Piantedosi plans to expand existing locations and try planting some in a couple of new spots, in hopes the vetch can spread.Unlike elected officials, most Americans unwilling to violate democratic norms. That's one conclusion from a huge new study by the Polarization Research Lab, a joint effort at Dartmouth, Penn, and Stanford that's led by Dartmouth government prof Sean Westwood. It's based on surveys of 45,000 Americans, which found that at the grassroots, adherents of both parties are equally unlikely to support moves like shrinking the number of polling places in areas that typically back the other party, or ignoring court decisions by judges tied to an opposing party. Dartmouth News' Amy Olson explains.In NH, disagreement over Education Freedom Account data blocks scrutiny. In 2022, reports NH Bulletin's Ethan DeWitt, a new law went into effect requiring a legislative audit of how the state ed department runs the program. But legislative auditors say they can't get the information they need on students and families because the department won't hand it over. The department says it can't do so, because the data belongs to a private contractor. As both sides express exasperation with the other, DeWitt explains what's going on.Unilever to spin off Ben & Jerry's. The London-based consumer goods giant yesterday said that it's divesting itself of its ice cream businesses (which also include Breyer's); news reports note that ice cream has been a lagging part of the company's portfolio, writes Vermont Business Mag's Timothy McQuiston. It's unclear what the move will mean for jobs at B&J's—or even who the new ownership will be structured. But, Champlain College prof Fritz Burkhardt tells WCAX, “There’s a wonderful opportunity for Ben and Jerry’s to be able to focus on what is ideal for Ben and Jerry’s going forward for its business."“There was no expectation when [Interstates] 89 and 91 were built to have 150,000 in one day on it, so there will be some backups." And that's if everything goes well on the highways on Eclipse Day. With untold numbers of visitors expected in northern VT and NH, state highway departments are prepping—and, reports VT Public's Howard Weiss-Tisman, there's a precedent: the August, 2004 Phish concert in Coventry to which 68,000 people showed up. Traffic on I-91 backed up 30 miles. People abandoned their cars to tramp through the mud to the site. Weiss-Tisman revisits those days. “Hey," says Judi Hussey, who was there, "we handled Phish. We can handle the eclipse.”"Be as helpful as possible" and other April 8 advice for Vermonters and Granite Staters. The emergency management folks in Plainfield, VT, have put out some wise tips that, as Granite Geek's David Brooks points out, pretty much every local can use. Remember that in both states, all those cars will hit the road home at the same time, so staying off the highways would be smart. Stock up on necessities, because stores will be jammed. And most visitors "don’t know about our roads, our marginal cell phone service, our absence of public toilets and the scarcity of police to help them." More advice at the link.The Wednesday Vordle. If you're new to Daybreak, this is the Upper Valley version of Wordle, with a five-letter word chosen from an item in the previous day's Daybreak. A word game—but local!
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There's lots to see on the Daybreak swag page created by Strong Rabbit Designs, including a Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, fleece, hats, mugs, and tees. And hey, just so you know, Strong Rabbit is celebrating the eclipse by offering locally designed eclipse merchandise through April 8th.
At noon today, the Howe Library and the local group Difficult Conversations About Race co-host a screening of Ghosts of a Lost Cause, a new documentary about the struggle in Murray, Kentucky, over whether or not to remove a 1917 stone memorial topped by a statue of Robert E. Lee. The conversation afterward will feature one of the film's producers, Sherman Neal II, a Marine and the Deputy Campaign Director for Military Outdoors at the Sierra Club. In the Howe's Mayer Room and online.
Starting at 6:30 this evening at the Nugget Theater in Hanover, the Upper Valley Dayenu Circle hosts the Climate Future Film Festival: ten short films—drama, documentary, animation, dark comedy—from four continents over two hours that explore humans' response to climate change. No charge, but email [email protected] to reserve a spot. Here's the festival lineup.
This evening at 7 at the Norwich Congregational Church, the Norwich Bookstore hosts a conversation between two bestselling authors: Rebecca Serle and Jodi Picoult, talking about Serle's just-published novel, Expiration Dates. Serle's readers know that she infuses the lives of her protagonists with magical realism. In this case, it's just a touch: Over two decades of dating, Daphne Bell gets a slip of paper each time with the man's name and how long they'll be together. Until one night, she gets one without an expiration date—but, of course, things aren't that simple. This is a ticketed event.
Also at 7, Next Stage Arts in Putney hosts an unusual archival event: Christopher Segal, who teaches Jewish history and culture at McGill University, on "Historical Grooves: Archiving the Sounds of the Jewish-Muslim Relationship". Segal will detail his efforts to reveal the connections between North African Jewish and Muslim musicians, using selections from his rare collection of early twentieth century shellac records from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
And to start us off today...
Let's turn to Kat Eaton, the Welsh-born, London-based R&B singer,
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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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