Updates and Overheard

I can confidently say that my doe has taken her fawn(s) across the road, out of the beaver meadows, and up the mountain. We have not seen them for almost a week now. It is a big relief!

The white moth photograph from the Fourth of July was identified as a white spring moth today at bugguide.net.

The stilt walkers that were injured in the Fourth of July parade were thankfully only bruised. They were treated and released at the hospital that day.

The house fire in Orleans for which the fire trucks and crews had to abruptly leave the parade was not an awful fire. It was bad enough but mostly the damage was from smoke.

The Barton Chronicle quoted the fire chiefs, who met after the Barton parade, as describing the parade as "the parade from hell."

Technorati tags: White+Spring+Moth parade Barton Orleans photography Bread+and+Puppet

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Wild Chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris)

My original untouched photo

On June 24 I posted a photograph which I tentatively identified as Wild Chervil. I used the book Wildflowers of Vermont, 2nd edition by Kate Carter (2001) and National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region (Eastern). I finally settled on my wild chervil identification because of the Carter book which seems to have had an error (see the last photo below).

On July 14 TrinkaVermont left a comment that this was not wild chervil but yarrow. After spending the afternoon reading about these two plants and using a link she supplied, I must agree. I have documented some of the material used for my decision and posted it below.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Yarrow is a wildflower frequently planted in flower gardens. Wild Chervil has two plants by the same common name but two different Latin names. The one we are concerned with in Vermont is Anthriscus sylvestris and it is a dangerous noxious invasive pest. There are statewide programs to eradicate the state of it. We must learn how to identify it. Once identified it must be eradicated properly or we can inadvertently help it spread.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Uploaded with Skitch!

I found two excellent sources of identification and eradication information:

UVM: Invasive Plant Information for Vermont: Identifying Wild Chervil
The Herald of Randolph, VT: Wild Chervil Information Center

Finally, I cannot find TrinkaVermont to thank her for her identification. I have used Google Blog Search, Google search and a Flickr search. If any of you know her, please pass on my thanks.

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Chris Bohjalian: Cows have finally come Home...r

Chris Bohjalian: Cows have finally come Home...r
You have to read this wonderful article by Chris Bohjalian about Vermont winning the Simpson Movie contest. This is a gem.

I finished The Double Bind by Bohjalian this past week. It's a haunting book about Laurel, a social worker at a homeless shelter in Burlington, VT. She was given a box of photos left when a client of the shelter died. There seems to be a connection between the deceased man, the photos, and the attack she suffered years ago in Underhill, VT while bicycling. The book was slow in the beginning; I was wondering what the point of the novel was. Bohjalian is an excellent writer so I began to imagine what scenarios could happen. I never thought of the scenario that did happen. It was stunning and heartbreaking. I missed several clues and/or connections in the text that I should have seen. I won't be forgetting the story of Laurel for quite some time.

alisonwonderland reviewed The Double Bind here in her blog So Many Books, So Little Time. It is worth the time to read it.

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Orleans Teenager Accused Of High-Speed Flight

Orleans Teenager Accused Of High-Speed Flight

On Friday I twittered about this high speed chase that went by the house. A red car closely followed by an unmarked state car, then by two state troopers, then a sheriff, then more troopers. Later, another trooper raced by but turned around down near my neighbors and raced back to Westmore.

At Currier's that afternoon we learned that it was "only a kid." Here are the details.

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BurlingtonFreePress.com : Vermont's Seven Wonders

BurlingtonFreePress.com : Vermont's Seven Wonders

I have places to go on this list. Tonight is the night (I think) that they reveal the 7 Wonders of Vermont. The Free Press is compiling a list of possible seven wonders for Vermont and we can all vote on what we think should make the list. This process will continue all summer.

I think they should have qualified the wonders: natural wonders? human-made? even geological wonders. 

This state is the number one wonder of this country.

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Verizon and St. Mary Star of the Sea

St. Mary's Church in Newport overlooks the entire city on a high hill. Because of this, Verizon sought a contract with the church to install cell phone equipment in the bell towers around 2003-2004. The diocese in Burlington signed the contract, which would give St. Mary's (or the diocese) an estimated $18,000 to $20,000 in income.


However, when residents in the neighborhood heard about the deal, they objected. They said that transmissions from the towers are detrimental to our health and that Verizon and the Catholic Church could not implement the contract without neighborhood meetings. Which were then held.


Vermont Public Radio also at that time broadcast a call-in show with Scandinavian "experts". These people told us how radiation from the equipment can heat up the fluid within the cells of our bodies. It is a minute amount of heating, but it is unnatural and, therefore, dangerous.

The view of Lake Memphremagog from the church steps.

Verizon was beaten back with testimony such as this. The church lost extra income. There is spotty cell service in Newport. I am not an advocate of cell phones and feel them to be unnecessary (but if you want to give me an iPhone and an AT&T contract for service for one, I will accept the gift valued at $2,500). I think the expert testimony could be challenged and I think the deal with the diocese was a lost opportunity. But I will also fight on to keep cell towers off of Barton Mountain.

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Mac v PC

Read the Mr. Mac Man article about Jerry Manock formerly of the Macintosh design team.

I used Skitch to grab the section of the page at 7Days.

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Another Student Is Gone

Monday June 4, 2007

Local Man Drowns In Moore Reservoir
BY AMY ASH NIXON, Staff Writer


WATERFORD, VT - WATERFORD -- A 23-year-old Waterford man died in a watercraft accident Saturday evening.



A search for Joshua Connelly ended late Sunday afternoon when his body was found in about 15 feet of water. Police said he had not been wearing a personal flotation device.



State police said Connelly was riding a personal watercraft with a friend at Moore's Dam Reservoir between 8 and 9 p.m. Saturday.



The pair had been riding a Jet Ski on the reservoir when a thunderstorm broke out over the region, and according to the report heard over the police scanner Saturday evening, they abandoned the craft fearing it would be struck by lightning.

Connelly's companion, whom police did not name, made it to shore and was rescued Saturday night. He told police the Jet Ski began having mechanical problems, and Connelly jumped into the water to swim to shore, which was about 75-yards away.



The friend told police that when he got to shore, he looked back and saw Connelly flailing his arms.



Police said the friend pulled the Jet Ski to shore and heard Connelly calling for help. He tried to help, but was unable to do so.



New Hampshire and Vermont authorities responded, but could not find Connelly Saturday evening.



A command center consisting of state police, members of Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the state police scuba team, the Fish and Wildlife Department and VSP auxiliary personnel, was set up at the shores of the normally tranquil Moore Reservoir, and Connelly's family kept vigil at the water's edge.



His mother, Barbara, waited on the banks of the water with good friends, and other family was at the scene through out the day, state police said.



CALEX Ambulance stood guard, and a huge state police command center vehicle was stationed at the scene.



Several police officers were out on the dock where people usually jump off for fun, and nearby, people had set up a weekend party and were out enjoying the afternoon, as the tragic event played out.



Connelly was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington. Police said the investigation into the incident is continuing.

Audrie Wright, who owns a home just up the road from where the tragedy occurred, was outside at her picnic table Sunday early evening, a glass bottle filled with lilacs.



"I'm worried about everyone," she said, looking very sad about the stream of police and emergency vehicles that had been going past her property for nearly 24 hours by then. "It's very sad."

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Wednesday June 6, 2007
www.caledonianrecord.com

Joshua Connelly, 23

- Joshua Roland Connelly, 23, died in Waterford Saturday evening, June 2, 2007.

Born on May 7, 1984, he is survived by his mother, Barbara Connelly, his brother, Paul, and sister, Crystal, of Waterford (PO Box 18, Lower Waterford VT 05848); and his grandparents, Peg and Doc Tirrell of Waterford.

He is predeceased by his father, Jim.

Josh attended St. Johnsbury Academy and graduated from Littleton High School in 2003.

In high school he was an accomplished sprinter and was a Vermont state champion two years in a row.

A Life Scout, Josh enjoyed fishing and being outdoors. Josh was very loyal to his friends and was often the peacemaker when arguments arose.

Memorial services will be held Sunday, June 17, at 2 p.m., at the North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury.

Memorial contributions may be directed to either Green Mountain Council, Boy Scouts of America, P.O. Box 557, Waterbury, VT 05676 or to North Congregational Church, 1325 Main St., St. Johnsbury, VT 05819.

Condolences and memories may be shared with the family privately on-line at www.saylesfh.com.

Sayles Funeral home of St. Johnsbury is assisting the family with arrangements.

The Caledonian-Record is a daily newspaper serving Northern Vermont and Northern New Hampshire. Visit our website updated daily at www.caledonianrecord.com

Note from the WebMaster: We request that you maintain proper credit to the Caledonian-Record Online News and to the author of the article. If you post this news article on your website we also request that you include a link to our website, which can be accomplished by using the following code:
The Caledonian-Record Online News

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Vermont Senate Adopts Resolution To Impeach Bush

The Vermont Guardian:

The Vermont Senate this morning approved by a 16-9 margin a resolution calling on the U.S. House to launch impeachment proceedings of Pres. George W. Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney.

The Vermont Senate is the first state legislative body in the country to call on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings. Impeachment resolutions are currently active in Hawaii, Missouri, New Jersey, and Washington. A measure in New Mexico was quashed earlier this year.

The move comes just days after nearly 150 people from around Vermont converged on Montpelier to urge lawmakers to pass such a resolution out of the House and Senate. The emotionally-charged, 40-minute meeting left backers hopeful that something could happen this session.

Today's resolution was introduced by Senate Pres. Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, and Sen. Jeannette White, D-Windham. The process began last night when Senate Majority Leader Dick McCormick, D-Windsor, introduced a resolution. However, his resolution did not include Cheney. The resolution by Shumlin and White did include Cheney.

The vote took place early in the morning and was over in less than a half hour.

also, from Reuters:
Vermont senate adopts resolution to impeach Bush | Politics | Reuters

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I'm On 7 Days!

I've been put onto the Seven Days blogroll! Cathy Resmer, the Online Editor, has put this blog on the 802Online sidebar and I am thrilled. I urge you to look around her blog and the other blogs and sites at 7D!

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Hate And The F Word

There are two F words at school which, if spoken, will cause our students to be suspended and I'm not going to tell you which ones because you know. Coulter doesn't know (I won't create a tag for her for my blog either).

Click HERE to see whether or not your newspaper still carries Coulter's column.

If your newspaper still carries her column, please write, politely, and ask them to stop. I have included the text of my request to the Caledonian Record in St. Johnsbury. I think it explains why her behaviors cannot be condoned.

Good afternoon.

I am writing on behalf of family members and other Vermonters and as a regular reader of the Record.

Please discontinue Ann Coulter's column immediately. She is purposefully riling people up at the expense of our gay citizens. It is hostile behavior and uncalled for. We don't need any more ugly rhetoric from anyone about anyone anymore.

I would like people of all orientations/races/genders, etc. to feel safe and secure in Vermont. Unfortunately, language such as Coulter uses adds to an acceptance and an escalation of the use of this ugly language.

Please help break the cycle of this hostility.

Thank you so much for considering my request.

name
address (please do not be anonymous!)

Please do this now. This country simply cannot cope with much more hate.
Thank you.

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How Log Drives on the Connecticut River Built Southern New England

Rutland Herald
Article published Mar 2, 2007
How log drives on the Connecticut built Southern New England

Wells River, VT

From 1870 to 1915, a period covering 45 years, an event captured the attention of people living in the Connecticut River Valley — log drives. So many logs floated downriver it appeared as if the waters had disappeared under a blanket of wood, packed solid from bank to bank.

One Newbury resident, Kate Meader, recalled the head of one drive as it approached the town. She wrote of seeing the first boat preceding the advance of logs. "Its solitary occupant stood high in the narrow pointed prow with one foot on the gunwale, and a long blue oar lightly poised paddlewise over his knee. We wondered whether he knew how much like a Viking of old he looked in bold relief against the evening sky, or, as he came nearer, what a charming bit of color his red shirt and blue oar made in contrast to the dusky green of the willows on the opposite bank."


Why the need for log drives? To fill the hungry demand of sawmills to produce dimensional lumber to construct buildings in southern New England. The combination of logging operations and agriculture had stripped the harvestable timber from the region. Mills required a new wood source and they discovered it in northern Vermont and New Hampshire — thousands of acres of virgin spruce forest just waiting to feel the cut of an ax or bite of a saw.

Before any drive commenced, you needed the wood.

Every fall, lumberjacks gathered in the northern forests' logging camps. Each day, the men set out into the woods carrying their axes and saws to fell the large trees, limbed them and cut them to length. Teams of horses then skidded them over the snow to nearby waterways where they would be stacked in large piles. The workers toiled for long hours in bitter weather and devoured voluminous quantities of food. And the stacks of wood grew higher and broader with each passing day.

Finally, as the ice started to break up, crews made preparations for the next step — the river drive. Logs would float 250 to 300 miles depending on what mill received the timber.

One did not just release the huge piles in one giant rush; river bosses orchestrated the process. Dams discharged sufficient water to propel logs downstream over ledges and around curves to reach the Connecticut River.

From those tributaries, an estimated 200,000 logs floated annually down river to those hungry mills. Depending on water flow, it sometimes took days for a drive to pass by one point.

Rivermen were a special sort. Charles Cummings described them in an article for the Vermonter magazine: "They are picked men, cool, sturdy and big-hearted." He also wrote that logging "is perhaps the most dangerous of occupations, yet they brave danger daily, with supreme indifference."

How many employers would ask a man to "dash across stream by running from log to log ... single out the vital point in a jam and concentrate there in force … stand far out on the apex of dams where big sticks of spruce rear and swing and plunge" and "push their big boats through the tightest places, and steer them over falls and rapids."

The men worked 15-hour days for good pay, but every year 10 to 12 men perished as one bad step could mean death. Rivermen became victims of drowning, being crushed by 40-foot logs upwards to 2 feet in diameter or pitched off logs while passing through rough waters. An old riverman tradition existed if a victim's body was recovered; fellow workers suspended his boots from a tree along the shore.

Jams proved the greatest problem on the drive. Just a single obstructed log could block the flow of thousands and back up the river's waters. Here the drivers earned their wages. They scrambled out to the blockage with their spiked boots in an attempt to free the "key" log in the jam. One needed to possess quick reflexes, for if that trapped log released, the rest of the jam could suddenly follow, putting the drivers at risk.

River bosses resorted to dynamite if a jam proved too insurmountable for humans.

Logs swept through the deadly 15-Mile Rapids — now covered by the waters of Comerford and Moore Reservoirs — over the wooden dam at Wilder, through Hartland's Sumner Falls, squeezed into the gorge of Bellows Falls, around the bridge piers at Windsor and southwards into Massachusetts.

Some of the hardest work occurred towards the end of the drive, a process known as "cleaning up the river." After the majority of the logs floated by, crews came by to gather up the timbers stranded along the shore or hung up on rocks and other obstacles. Men used their peaveys and pike poles to send the logs down river. When brute force proved insufficient, rivermen unloaded teams of harnessed horses from rafts, attached chains to the unyielding logs and pulled them free. The men continued downstream spending hours splashing through the cold waters.

Bringing up the rear of the drive was the venerable cookhouse, a sturdy shack built atop a raft. Called the Mary Anne, its cooks turned out large meals to feed the hungry drivers. Children watching from shore knew those cooks, grizzled men and a force to be reckoned with, had soft hearts. Quite often tasty doughnuts would reach small hands along the route. One 10-year-old penned in his diary for June 1, 1904, "The cook gave us the biggest cookies you ever saw."

Onlookers realized when they spotted the Mary Anne, the end of another log drive had drawn to a close until the following spring when thousands of logs would once again float by in the current with agile rivermen confidently dancing from log to log.

Such an annual event had to eventually end. The heavy pressure of logging the Vermont and New Hampshire forests denuded the slopes. The one-time vast timbered acreage had been depleted and operating costs had risen. The lumber companies decided 1915 would be the final drive on the Connecticut River.



When word circulated regarding the last drive, the young, the old, the retired, rushed to join in this piece of history. The drive was to be the biggest on record, no little hurrah for the Connecticut River.

More than 2,000 men labored in the woods during the winter and more than 500 hired on for the drive. By the time all stacked logs flowed into the Connecticut, it represented 65 million feet of logs. Such a quantity took the Massachusetts mills two years to saw.

Robert Pike summarized the great event as he recalled a scene from the last log drive that he observed from a bridge near 15-Miles Falls upstream of Barnet. In the style of a eulogy he wrote, "A solitary riverman came in the red beams of the dying sun. His peavey point was stuck into the big log on which he rode, and both his hands were clasped around the top of the heavy handle. Seemingly oblivious to the slippery, unstable quality of his steed, poised in a splendid attitude of indifference to the many acquiring eyes he knew were fixed upon him, he came whirling down the river, the 20-foot spruce surging and lunging through the white water … His sweaty suspenders were crossed over a red woolen shirt; his heavy black trousers were staged off about the tops of his spiked boots. A torn, gray felt hat, its tattered brim turned up in front, revealed his eyes, watchful as any cat's, and by the look in his eyes and by the little bend in his knees we knew that while he appeared so nonchalant as he leaned there upon his peavey-handle, he was intensely alert. … So he went on … and disappeared in the fading light."

The Connecticut River log drives, the longest in the United States, ended and became a part of the past, just like the stalwart riverman who floated downstream in Pike's remembrances.

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