GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
"Approaching dynamics." The weather folks have such a choice way of putting it, don't they? We might actually see some sun today, but there's also a decent chance of showers throughout the day and evening, then a chance of snow tonight. With the cold front that's come through temps will have a hard time reaching 50 today and we'll be dropping to around or below freezing overnight. Oh, also, could be kind of blowy this afternoon.Stories in objects. One's a little bit of a mystery, one's definitely not.
Before there were green bags, there was this... With Green Up Day(s) upon us, Mike Zwikelmaier writes, "I was remembering early recycling events in the Upper Valley and am sending a picture of what I think was one of the first reusable grocery bags available in the area." As you'll see, it's got "Upper Valley Citizens Plastics Coalition" printed on it. Anyone know the history? I'm curious.
And remember all that firefighting protective gear that members of the Norwich Fire Department donated to their colleagues in Ukraine? Well, the departments in Strafford and Hartland took up their own collection, and this past weekend Norwich firefighter Matt Rojansky drove their contribution down to New Jersey, where it'll join equipment from other departments and get shipped over.
Early this month, the destination WRJ restaurant shut its doors after owners Skip Symanski and Jane Carrier decided they couldn't weather more pandemic struggles. Now the restaurant's chef, Chris Brewer, has announced by GoFundMe that he's trying to buy it. "Elixir was one of the forerunners of [WRJ's] revival," he writes, "and I would like to make sure that it stays a part of the revival." He's about a fifth of the way to his $25,000 goal, with hopes of opening the doors June 1.
"It’s the thing that gets us up out of our seats at ball games or into spontaneous applause at a concert," writes Courtney Cook, who has joined the Enthusiasms lineup. And it applies to a 15-year-old kid who joins the batting lineup in an Oklahoma sandlot baseball game — and in B.H. Fairchild's "Body and Soul," a poem about that moment (turns out, the kid's got a name) and how it marks the crowd. It's a poem Courtney fell in love with, she writes, "for the way it could hook even the most poetry-resistant students and for the truth that it packaged into a ripping good story."
SPONSORED: Join the Montshire Team! The Montshire Museum of Science is hiring for summer staff positions: Camp Directors, Camp Educators, Extended Care Staff, and Exhibit Explainers. These positions are open to various experience levels, including graduating high school seniors. Be part of a dedicated team responsible for developing and delivering memorable, science-filled experiences! Hit the maroon link above for details. Sponsored by the Montshire Museum of Science.From 230 to 750. That's the rise in the number of human-bear interactions in Vermont over the past six years, writes Sarah Blow, of UVM's Community News Service, in the (Mad River) Valley Reporter. A recent webinar led by Audubon Vermont’s Gwendoyln Causer and VT Fish and Wildlife biologists Doug Morin and Jaclyn Comeau laid out tips for coexistence: in particular why you take in bird feeders and how planting native trees and plants instead can attract birds.NH residents, U.S. Forest Service at loggerheads over logging plans. The Forest Service wants to proceed with logging 880 acres of land surrounding Lake Tarleton, in Warren and Piermont, the largest lake in the White Mountain National Forest. Skeptical residents fear disruption to the area’s natural ecosystems and want to put a stop to it. The VN’s Claire Potter breaks down the dispute. The feds argue clearcutting would help diversify the habitat, thinning beech to allow younger aspen and birch to thrive. A leading opponent questions those benefits, saying it simply “uses the forest as a farm.”NH secretary of state launches commission on voter confidence. “It is clear to me that for some time now...there’s just a decline, both nationally and in the state of New Hampshire, on general voters’ belief about the accuracy of election results,” David Scanlan told reporters yesterday. The eight-member commission, which will hold hearings around the state to hear citizens' concerns and plans to explore ways of making NH's elections apparatus more transparent, is co-chaired by Bradford Cook, who heads up the state’s Ballot Law Commission, and former Democratic congressman Dick Swett.There's $21 million in funds, adults and kids in crisis waiting in ERs around Vermont... and a planned inpatient psychiatric unit is still cooling its heels. The 25-bed unit at Central VT Med Center in Berlin, part of the UVM Health Network, has actually been on the books since 2018, reports VTDigger's Liora Engel-Smith, but it's essentially been on hold since then. This week the Green Mountain Care Board will take up how to get it jump-started—and grapple with the UVM Health Network's decision to delay all capital projects in the face of a $44 million budget shortfall.VT's average daily Covid hospitalization rate rising. In fact, reports Erin Petenko in VTDigger, it nearly doubled over the past week: The state's latest report notes 11.7 daily hospitalizations, up from 6 the week before. As of yesterday, 51 people were hospitalized with Covid, a 16 percent boost from last week and an 82 percent increase from two weeks ago. Cases as measured by PCR tests continue to rise, though more slowly than in previous weeks; same with self-reported antigen tests."It turns out building an aerospace company is a lot like setting piles of money on fire." That was Beta Technologies' COO, Blain Newton, earlier this year. Even so, writes Derek Brouwer in Seven Days, the company has just landed $375 in a new round of venture financing, is breaking ground this summer on a new manufacturing campus, and has "solidified [its] position as a leader in the much-hyped electrical vertical takeoff and landing" industry. Brouwer digs into where things stand as the company grows, competition between Burlington and Plattsburgh for a proposed battery plant, and more.Well, here’s what it looks like to be devoured by a shark. When sharkbait becomes clickbait, who are we not to bite? My Modern Met shares an outtake by ocean cinematographer Zimy Da Kid: While he was scuba diving with tiger sharks, one of them swam up and sunk its teeth into the camera. Because tug-of-war with a shark isn’t a good idea, Zimy lets go and winds up treating us to a high-def view of the inside of the shark’s mouth. Then he gets back to his film about preserving these critical denizens of the deep.The Tuesday Vordle. There were all sorts of suggestions for different names, including Gurdle, Twaddl, McMurdle, and in a mini-groundswell of great minds thinking alike, McCurdle—in honor of Kevin McCurdy, who's behind the Daybreak version. "Give credit where credit is due!" demands one of its proponents. Yeah, but we're still going with Vordle. A reminder: The word relates to something in one of yesterday's items.
And the Dartmouth numbers...
The college yesterday reported there had been 541 active cases during the previous 7 days, compared to the 580 reported on Friday. The college says 294 undergrads (-53), 131 grad and professional students (+4), and 116 faculty/staff (+10) had active cases over the previous week.
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If you're looking for new work, today from 10-4 Simon Pearce is doing walk-in interviews at its mill in Quechee. Much of it's in sales and the warehouse, but they're also looking for cooks, restaurants hosts, and glass blowers (and apprentices).
Today at 4, Woodstock's garden club and the Norman Williams Public Library host an online talk on park and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted, who was born 200 years ago this month. You may have seen the recent New York Times photo essay on Olmsted's legacy—the public parks he designed and the public life they make possible (link is a gift, so: no paywall). Landscape historian and consultant Ann McEntee will give an overview of Olmsted's early life in New England and how it affected his work, and then focus on two of his best-known projects in the region: Shelburne Farms and Boston's Emerald Necklace.
And at 5 pm, an extremely unusual opportunity: The Dartmouth Political Union is hosting Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the Russian punk, performance-art, and anti-Putin activist group Pussy Riot. She'll be talking about her work against the Putin regime and the ongoing fight for human rights and political freedom in Russia—as well as about the state of women’s and LGBTQ rights in Russia, and the war in Ukraine. There'll be time for audience Q&A. Via Zoom, and you'll need to register.
At 7 this evening, CommunityCare of Lyme is hosting an open-to-anyone online presentation on ways of reducing stress, offering advice on practicing techniques like deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation wherever you are. No charge, but you'll need to register.
"Pagan folk" seems to be a big thing in Europe, and Celtic music in particular is showing up in all sorts of odd venues where the far-flung Celts sometimes put down roots. Like, say, Italy, where Emilio Cozza and Anna Cefalo—he's from Salento, she's from Campania—launched their band Emian about a decade ago. "Our hope is to always keep both...pure acoustic folk music and the folktronic pagan folk," Cefalo told an interviewer in 2020. "We are inspired both by the outer world and the inner world: a memory, a sound that we liked, the voice of a new musical instrument, the natural world.”
which somehow manages to be both meditative and, if your taste runs to reels, danceable.
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 and writers who want you to 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 Writer/editor: Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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