WELCOME TO DAYBREAK DIVERSIONS, UPPER VALLEY!
Lost Woods: Henry's Book of Seasons. The berries ripened three days earlier this year!You think the Presidentials are tough? Try the foot-wide planks—some missing—that are the only thing keeping you from a "1,000m drop into oblivion" off Huashan, in China's Shaanxi province. Or the bamboo and rusty metal ladders up and down 800m of cliff face that schoolkids from one village traversed every day—and are now a hiking destination. Or the amazing pillars in Zhangjiajie National Park (you saw them in Avatar). Or the deteriorated 14th century Jiankou section of the Great Wall, which features steep dropoffs on both sides as it follows mountain crests. They're all in Kristine De Abreu's "China's Craziest Hikes and Climbs," on ExplorersWeb. Don't look down.Ever wonder what goes into designing a good hike? Most trails look like they came about organically, based on how people decided to traverse the wooded terrain. And that’s the point. In this fascinating Vox video, US Geological Survey research scientist Jeff Marion explains the many detailed particulars that trail designers consider. These include creating routes that wend imperfectly, carefully avoiding private property and environmentally sensitive areas while leading toward waterfalls and scenic overlooks. As for trail durability and upkeep, people aren’t the biggest concern: water is.SPONSORED: Need a day out? Let's Planet! Now you can see what's popping at the Montshire Museum of Science before you arrive! Check out our packed calendar of drop-in sessions like Van de Graaff generators on July 18th, Insect Collecting on July 20th, and Starlab on July 23rd. Follow your interests and tinker, experiment, or get outside with our talented educators. Then visit TOYS: The Inside Story, our featured exhibition, splash, play, walk in the woods, and head home with your curiosity recharged. Sponsored by the Montshire Museum of Science.So... What if all you had to play your chosen sport with was a bowling ball? Like golf, or darts, or field hockey, or ping pong? Sam Buchanan, an independent British filmmaker, pulls back the curtain on that world in his new short film, "Every Sport a Bowling Bowl." Fair warning: Do not be eating cereal and milk while you watch this.Today's Wordbreak. With a word from the regional news.
Some years back, a young music teacher in Australia named Astrid Jorgensen got a gig teaching an entire secondary school to sing in a choir. "It was," she recalled later, "an incredible experience"—there were no grades, no concert at the end, just making music accessible to everyone there. The idea—and the rush—stayed with her, and six years ago at a pub in Brisbane she pulled in 70 people for the first-ever Pub Choir. It's fair to say that it's since become a thing Down Under, with thousands of people getting together to learn a song (though not all in the same pub). “Pub Choir is the sound of people agreeing," the novelist and journalist Trent Dalton wrote Jorgensen after one show. Well, a couple of summers ago it got really big: Jorgensen toured the continent to 18 locations, pulling together a total of 18,812 people all singing one song: Toto's "Africa." Here it is.See you Friday.
Daybreak is written and published by Rob Gurwitt About Rob
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