A reminder: No Daybreak the rest of this week. It's time for the basics: Pie, friends, and family. I'm guessing you, too, could use a break. In the meantime, you'll find this week's Lost Woods below. "Hiking Close to Home," "So, What Are You Having...," and the News Quiz are taking a breather until next week.

Sun then some clouds, but still: a mostly calm day. An upper-level disturbance started passing through late yesterday, but behind it, high pressure is building in; it should last through tomorrow. Today we get a mix of sun and clouds, but good sun in the morning should help boost us into the low 40s today. Lower 20s tonight.

Stick season. What's cool is that in some ways, the austere surroundings make animal and bird life all the more charismatic.

• Two cases in point: Catherine Holland's photos of an American tree sparrow in Lyme and a hermit thrush by Lake Morey.
• And another—well, actually, many cases in point—comes from Jim Block, whose latest blog post starts with an extraordinary set of bobcat photos (and the treat of a re-visit to Ted Levin's March, 2021 reflections on bobcat), passes through late-season foliage and the lunar eclipse, and then tours the region's flora, fauna, and breathtaking scenery.

"When was the last time you climbed a tree for fun?" That's what Henry and Wally are doing this week, getting to hang out up high in Lost Woods. Lebanon writer and illustrator DB Johnson's chronicle of the doings in his favorite patch of forest will be back in its usual Friday spot next week—but as he writes on his blog, not for long. In a bit of truly dismaying news, he tells us that Week 108 (this is Week 104) will be Lost Woods'  last, as he moves on to other projects that are commanding his attention.

Hartford police warn of banking scam. They and other area police departments "have been receiving increased reports of fraudulent activity regarding local banking institutions," the HPD posted on its FB page yesterday. Scammers are spoofing the phone numbers of local banks and calling customers to tell them there's a problem with their account. "Do not log into or out of your accounts at the request of the individuals on the other end of the line," the department advises. "Please hang up the phone and call your local banking institution directly to verify that there is an issue."

New construction projects cause a stir in Woodstock. VT Digger’s Ethan Weinstein talks to residents and local officials about what some see as a trend of building developments that seem to violate town zoning regs. Recent turnover on the planning commission and development review board may have led to permitting mistakes. In the case of Peace Field Farm, a proposed restaurant on the north side, the developer constructed a barn-style building without state approval—then reached agreement with the town. And a 4-acre clearcutting on Rabbit Hill Way, while permitted, isn’t sitting well with neighbors.

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“Hey, would you like to read a fascinating book about the history of water reservoirs?” As the Norwich Bookstore's Sam Kaas writes in this week's Enthusiasms, that's not a winning line. But as he also writes, stick with him! Lucy Sante's new book, Nineteen Reservoirs, is a fascinating and surprisingly beautiful look at the history and human impact of razing and relocating towns in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills to make way for the reservoirs that provide NYC with potable water. "This slim, lushly illustrated volume is full of largely untold, or forgotten, history that I found myself eagerly devouring," Sam says.

Searchers again took to Franconia Notch yesterday to look for missing hiker. And, reports WMUR's Kelly O'Brien, they brought in a canine search and rescue team to help in the extensive effort to find 20-year-old Emily Sotelo. In the Union Leader (paywall), John Koziol reports that Sotelo is a sophomore biochem major at Vanderbilt—and, NH Fish & Game Capt. Michael Eastman told reporters, was "woefully unprepared" for conditions in Franconia Notch, where temps had dropped to zero on the summits on Sunday, despite earlier wilderness survival training. Eastman added that the effort was shifting from rescue to recovery. Pemi Search & Rescue's FB feed was silent this morning.

Dems lose in court on Manchester recount, then lose seat. First, Merrimack Superior Court judge Amy Ignatius yesterday morning ruled that ballot-counting in a state House race won initially by a Republican, then awarded to his Democratic challenger after a recount put her one vote up, should continue. Yesterday evening, that second recount gave the seat back to incumbent Republican Larry Gagne, who wound up with a 26-vote victory over Democrat Maxine Mosley. NH Bulletin's Amanda Gokee explains the to-and-fro, which left Dems vowing to pursue the issue and the GOP up 201-198 in the House.

NH plans to spend $20 million on emergency rental relief for people living in hotels, motels. You may remember that federal funding for the program is coming to an end, and recipients who'd been housed in hotels around the state were in danger of being kicked out. Leb Mayor Tim McNamara earlier this month wrote Gov. Chris Sununu warning, “Municipalities will quickly discover that their local welfare budgets are insufficient to meet this need." The new money, writes NH Bulletin's Annmarie Timmins, will keep recipients with children housed until June. It was approved yesterday by the Exec Council.

“People think if something happens to their loved one that they'll make some calls, and there'll be people to help them. And that's not the case right now.” NH is facing a shortage of care workers, and as the director of an in-home care program tells NHPR's Paul Cuno-Booth, it's having real-world consequences for the families of people who need help with the tasks of daily living. The state's commission on aging plans to make suggestions to the guv and legislature, including boosting pay for home-based care and expanding tuition assistance and training opportunities.

VT takes another step toward requiring all new car sales to be all-electric after 2035. That rule, reports Maggie Cassidy in VTDigger, would require "all passenger car and light-duty truck vehicles delivered by manufacturers for sale" in the state to be zero-emissions. The new regs were approved last week by a legislative committee, but won't be finalized until California—whose lead VT and some other states are following—finalizes its own, similar regulation. The VT version attempts to address concerns about financial inequities by providing incentives for manufacturers to produce more affordable EVs.

“Nature continually shows us abstractions and realities that seem magical.” That’s Antonio Fernandez, runner-up Photographer of the Year in the 2022 Natural Landscape Photography Awards, challenging us to observe the “whimsical forms and patterns, attractive harmonies, and natural structures” that surround us. These winning images even seem to transcend their natural form—raging rapids on the Yellowstone River, the jagged shadow of a mountain peak against a swirling glacier, conifer trees like survivors on snowy mountainsides in Romania, an “Ocean Deity” forming in western Australia…

Ticked-off overseas Wordle players spur Cambridge Dictionary's new Word of the Year. That word, writes Shaheena Uddin for British broadcaster Sky News, is "homer" — "an informal American English word for a home run in baseball." The NYT's Wordle used it in May, sending 75,000 puzzled English speakers in other countries to the dictionary to look it up—and then to social media to gripe. Turnabout was fair play in July, though, when the Wordle word was "bloke." Oh no! Now "bloke" is fair game for Vordle!

The Wednesday Vordle. Never fear, Vordlers! Bloke or not, the Vordle will continue tomorrow and Friday with words from today's Daybreak, as well as over the weekend with words from an Upper Valley news source that's not Daybreak. If you haven't yet signed up for reminder emails, you can do so here.

Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it keep going by hitting the maroon button:

• Continuing a longstanding tradition, four Upper Valley congregations—St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, the Norwich Congregational Church, the Upper Valley Jewish Community, and the Upper Valley Muslim Society—will host an interfaith gathering "of gratitude and celebration" at 5 pm today. There will be music, readings, blessings, and, of course, togetherness. At St. Barnabas in Norwich.
• And this evening at 7:30, Northern Stage's world premiere of its musical adaptation of Edith Nesbit's The Railway Children opens for previews (Friday night's preview may be sold out; official opening night is on Saturday). Forced to leave their comfortable home in the city after their father's accused of embezzlement, three kids move to WRJ in 1929 and find solace—and a whole lot more—at the train station. Directed by Carol Dunne and Eric Love, music and lyrics by Jane Shaw and Mark Hartman. With a cast of local kids and Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Northern Stage actors, plus lots of music, light, and spirit.

• Livestreamed tomorrow at 9 am (or you can stream it later if that works better), Upper Valley Yoga is doing its annual by-donation class to benefit the Haven. Sharon Comeau will help you get yourself centered ahead of the crush. Details at the link on how to make a donation (which will be matched one-for-one) and to connect to the class.
• And the Anonymous Coffeehouse will be at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon on Friday starting at 7:30. With Nashville-based singer-songwriter Sam Robbins, the "dumpster-folk, thriftstore-Americana duo of Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler (better known as The Rough & Tumble), and folk-rock duo Jaded Ravins.
• Saturday from 10 am to 2:30 pm, VINS is holding a Forest Fairy Hunt, a chance for families to build fairy houses and check out the tiny scenery in the VINS forest. With admission.
• And Saturday at 2 pm, the Chandler in Randolph brings in traveling Vermont puppeteers Dan Baginski and Barbara Paulson (the No Strings Marionette Company) for their production of Wasabi: A Dragon's Tale. Featuring a plucky princess and her companions, a "fashionable knight," and a seven-foot dragon.
• In case you've been meaning to get to the Norwich Historical Society's "Mending the Spaces Between"—22 artists' response to a vandalized Bible from 1848—before it closes Nov. 30, Sunday's a good chance. From 2-4 pm, the society will hold special opening hours, with some of the artists on hand to talk about their work and the exhibition as a whole.
• Finally, the Main Street Museum has an idea for what to do with visiting friends and family: your own private player piano concert with your choice of music from their vast (honest) collection. They even have a hot mic for singing along. By donation, info at the link.

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt         Writer/editor: Tom Haushalter    Poetry editor: Michael Lipson  
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