GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Understatement of the week: "The region remains in an unsettled and wet pattern." You could say the same about the internal weather around here, too. But here we are... The air remains tropical, there's a new front headed our way, and we're looking at a likelihood of rain off and on all day, along with a chance of thunderstorms and maybe an occasional hint of sky. Highs today in the mid 70s, lows once again in the mid 60s, and winds will be from the south.Which is good, because beware winds from the north. There are still some 30 wildfires burning in Quebec that are considered out of control—better than it was, but can still affect the air in VT and NH. At the start of the week, reports Vermont Public's Abagael Giles, air quality up north was rated "very unhealthy" by the EPA; it's cleared out over the past couple of days, but the winds are due to shift against us tomorrow. Giles talks to the state health department's David Grass about what people can do. First step: Keep track here.Ice. Heat. Smoke. As Jim Block writes on his latest blog post, spring was "a strange season in the Upper Valley"—but none of it kept him from getting out with his camera. Fox kits, beavers, guys paraflying, bike racers, turtles and frogs, butterflies and moths, reflections on the water, graffiti in Newport NH—it's a whole Upper Valley tour through one man's lens.And a little rose-colored addendum from yesterday. You remember the rosy maple moth, right? Here's a bigger photo, smack in the center of a calendula flower in Grantham, from Anne Langsdorf.With "golden patch cord" ceremony, ECFiber launches in WRJ—and completes its original goal. Which is to say, connecting 23 towns on the VT side of the river via fiber optic cable. Sixteen years after the effort began, yesterday's gathering marked the activation of its network hub for WRJ and Wilder and the buildout of the network in the original towns. Eight more towns joined in 2020, and work continues there. The Valley News's John Lippman was in the room—along with some 200 others—and details the festivities and ECFiber's long road to get there. And here's WPTZ's John Hawks with video.With new foothold at DHMC, The Works Café preps for Hanover. The healthy-eating, "fast casual" spot is the Keene, NH-based chain's 10th location and first foray into the Upper Valley—and into hospitals in general, reports QSR, a magazine that covers quick-service and "fast casual" restaurants. It opened June 5, replacing Au Bon Pain, and was chosen, QSR says, because it "offers fresh, thoughtfully sourced foods with an emphasis on local ingredients and organic options." Meanwhile, the mag reports, The Works is opening a Hanover spot later this year. The word in downtown business circles is it'll be in the old Canoe Club location; The Works didn't respond to a query yesterday.“A mad state of disrepair.” That’s Gregory Russo’s description of the appearance of the Midcentury Modern house he and Tammy Heesakker bought in 2015. No longer. The couple researched, respected, and restored the Norwich gem, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice Allan J. Gelbin. Preserving the aesthetic and materials of the building was non-negotiable for the couple, writes Amy Lilly in Seven Days. Vermont state architectural historian Devin Colman credits the pair for realizing that they had “an important work of architecture” that deserved to be restored, not torn down or renovated.SPONSORED: The hilarious new adaptation of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, adapted by Kate Hamill, NOW through July 9 at Northern Stage’s Courtyard Theater. This vibrant retelling of Jane Austen's beloved novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters—sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne. Set in gossipy late 18th-century England, with a fresh female voice, the play is full of humor, emotional depth, and bold theatricality. Now through 7/9 in WRJ. Sponsored by Northern Stage.“I’ve been looking for you for a very long time.” As Bryan Pfeiffer tells the Boston Globe's Billy Baker, he's not in the habit of talking to butterflies. But can you blame him, after more than two decades hunting for the elusive bog elfin? You may remember that the news of the writer and entomologist's discovery broke earlier this month. Baker circles back (try the burgundy link first, since the photos are best, but if you hit a paywall, try here) to describe that moment, the long search, why finding a tiny brown butterfly in a bog is so dang tough—and why Pfeiffer says VT "is now a better place for having bog elfins.""When was the last time you read an entire book in a day?" For Kari Meutsch, it was last Thursday, the day she opened R.F. Kuang's new novel, Yellowface. In this week's Enthusiasms, Kari, who co-owns the Yankee Bookshop in Woodstock, writes that Kuang's satire about the publishing industry—and exploration of the industry's efforts to grapple with diversifying the authors it publishes—is also "the most interesting 'thriller' I’ve read in ages," as the book takes apart that world's quirks from the perspective of a novelist who's done the unthinkable: plagiarize a dead friend's work.SPONSORED: Another opening, another show! Join Opera North for our 41st season and three new productions: Cavalcade, the signature circus-opera mashup (July 7-9), the lusty Carmen (July 16, 19, 21), and the much-loved Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel (July 27-30). Followed August 6 by Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon. Summerfest 2023 is summer theater at its best, with the stunning backdrop of Mt. Ascutney at Blow-Me-Down Farm in Cornish. Get your tickets now for this thrilling, powerful and fun season for families and friends alike! Tickets at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Opera North.Building consensus in a conversation "aligns our brains." That's one of the takeaways from a study carried out by Tuck business prof Adam Kleinbaum and a team of neuroscience grad students working with social systems prof Thalia Wheatley. Their work found that conversation actually brings the neural activity in people's brains into alignment, as well as their perspectives. Even more striking, this was especially true in groups with more general participation and turn-taking, rather than those dominated by one person. It seems our brains don’t enjoy getting bulldozed any more than our conscious selves do, Kleinbaum tells Tuck News's Kirk Kardashian.The washouts of the last few weekends may be a taste of things to come, but we're in a favored part of the country when it comes to downpour risk. The Brooklyn-based First Street Foundation came out Monday with a new report saying that the US government's estimates for the frequency of heavy precipitation "do not reflect current rainfall conditions or the changing climate." And they've re-calculated the risk for every county in the country. They believe the risk of a "1-in-100 year storm"—that is, a storm with a 1 percent chance of happening each year—is somewhat higher in Windsor, Grafton, and Sullivan counties than the feds' predictions; Orange County holds steady.Is our planet unique, "or are there other planets that have what it takes for life to arise and thrive?" That's the big question that UNH astronomer John Gianforte has in mind as he researches planets outside our solar system. Gianforte runs the UNH observatory, and in the Globe's Morning Report newsletter (no paywall), Amanda Gokee talks to him about what he and his students have discovered, how they go about it, and why. Which he boils down to, "Is there anybody out there that we can talk to?"Sugar Hill leads NH for highest percentage of same-sex couples. Gokee's story in the Globe (this one does have a paywall), builds on new data from the Census Bureau that finds Sugar Hill (pop. 651) with 4.29 percent of its households consisting of same-sex couples, well above the national average of 1.7 percent. “We know of quite a few gay people in Sugar Hill,” says one 50-year resident. “But, you know, people tend to mind their own business about stuff like that. It’s a pretty accepting town.” Story includes town-by-town chart.NH drops charges against anti-vaccine activist who disrupted Exec Council meeting. You may remember the hoo-hah back in 2021 when nine anti-vax protesters were arrested for disrupting a meeting where officials were discussing a federal grant to help administer Covid vaccines. Yesterday, just before Terese Grinnell Bastarache was scheduled to go to trial on those charges, prosecutors dropped them. The prosecution "did not believe they could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," a state Dept. of Public Safety spokesman tells NHPR's Kate Dario.Sununu signs school voucher expansion. The measure, writes Rick Green in the Keene Sentinel, expands eligibility for the state's Education Freedom Account program to children in households with income up to 350 percent of the federal poverty level, or $105,000 for a four-person family; it had been 300 percent, or $90,000. "New Hampshire funds students—not systems," the governor said in a statement. Democrats criticized the move. “If the governor truly cared about students he would fund public education,” said one state senator. As of last fall, 3,110 students were in the program statewide.Vermont Edition loses cohost Connor Cyrus. For the last two years, Cyrus has worked in tandem on the Vermont Public program with Mikaela Lefrak, who now becomes the show's only host. The two replaced Jane Lindholm in 2021. In its own post on the news, VP said only that Cyrus had resigned; he "did not immediately respond to an interview request," reports Seven Days' Katie Futterman. She notes that Cyrus is the latest in a series of recent departures, including reporters Anna Van Dine and Henry Epp (who's now at Marketplace) and Vermont Edition producer Matthew Smith, now at Efficiency VT.“A particularly pungent taste of the outdoors.” And hey, available right in your own backyard! On Atlas Obscura, Kirstin Fawcett goes a bit farther afield, though, to Scandinavia, where pine, “from tip to trunk,” is the flavor-de-forest. Berries and mosses remain hot, but pine bark cheese, pinecone-on-the-cob, and pine sprout purée are now considered haute cuisine at trendy restaurants. Even pine-bark bread, which for centuries was reserved for dire situations, is appearing on menus. Spurred by the restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, this “New Nordic infatuation” has trickled down to home cooks as well.Now that's a water rescue! A struggling calf in danger of drowning, a teeming canal, and a nerves-of-steel excavator operator in Iğdır, Turkey.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.
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Lost Woods
mug from DB Johnson for you? Or maybe a Vordle t-shirt? Or, of course, Daybreak tees, long-sleeve tees, and mugs. Check out what's available and wear it (or drink from it) proudly! Email me ([email protected]) if you've got questions.
Faced with the unlucky combination of bad weather and no indoor backup spot due to its renovations, the Hop has had to cancel today's concert on the Dartmouth Green by Cachitas Now! But you can catch the Argentinian band performing at BarnArts' Feast & Field tomorrow evening—more on that in tomorrow's Heads Up section.
At 6 pm, the Orford Community Bandstand launches its summer music series with the big band sound of the 15-piece Moonlighters. There'll be food available, plus a strawberry shortcake fundraiser hosted by the Orford Congregational Church. Double-check in case of rain.
This evening at 7, the Norwich Bookstore hosts novelists Stephen P. Kiernan and Sarah Stewart Taylor. The two former journalists and fellow Middlebury alums will be focusing on Kiernan's new novel, The Glass Château, set in post-WWII France and inspired by the life of Marc Chagall, by way of stained glass. Meanwhile, though, Taylor has her own new mystery novel out, A Stolen Child, the latest in her Maggie D'arcy series.
Also at 7 this evening, the Enfield Shaker Museum's free summer concert series kicks off with local favorites, The Flames—John Lovejoy, Cam Cross, Eric Von Ammon, and Terry Langford—with their takes on '50’s, '60’s, and '70’s rock, Motown, and more. The music starts at 7, but food and drinks will be available beginning at 6 from Trucking Tacos. For this first concert only, the venue's been shifted from the museum grounds to the chapel of the Shrine of our Lady-La Salette.
At 7:30, the New London Barn Playhouse opens its new production of Guys and Dolls, the always popular Frank Loesser musical that ported Damon Runyon's Times Square and Broadway denizens to, well, Broadway. Sky Masterson, Sarah Brown, Nathan Detroit, Miss Adelaide... all right there on stage in New London, plus a crowd of gamblers, showgirls, and, of course, the Salvation Army. Runs through July 9.
At 8 pm, Interplay Jazz and Arts' faculty and students, instrumentalists and vocalists alike, will rev up for a night of swing dance at the Kimball Union Academy Student Center in Meriden. "We’ll take you back to the heyday of swing dancing in Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom," they write. Runs to 11 pm.
And also at 8 pm, Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover hosts a standup comedy night with Cigs Inside, bringing its blend of standup and late-night talk. NYC's Matt Vita will be joined by Jared Hall, Nic Sisk, Liam P Welsh, and Nick Wervuski.
And to take us into the day...
Here's South Africa-born, Philadelphia-raised, Boulder-based guitarist and banjo player Gregory Alan Isakov with
off his forthcoming album,
Appaloosa Bones
.
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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