Welcome to “Dear Daybreak”, a weekly Daybreak column. It features short vignettes about life in the Upper Valley: an encounter, some wry exchange with a stranger or acquaintance… Anything that happened in this region or relates to it and strikes a contributor as interesting or funny or poignant—or that makes us appreciate living here.

Dear Daybreak:

Light snow fell and covered the bridge as I drove from Hanover to Norwich. It was nearly midnight, and I was surprised to see a car on the other side of the road, dark, with a young man standing outside. I sensed he needed help, so I U-turned and pulled up to offer assistance. His rental car was out of fuel, and his baby daughter, wife, and he were just short of their hotel in Hanover—having driven from New York.

Despite a little gas offered from a passerby, his car wouldn’t start. So I drove his family over to Hanover, leaving his car behind. As they checked into the hotel, I walked over to the all-night CVS to see if it had a gas canister.

“How’s your evening going?,” asked a young CVS employee standing outside, snow still falling. Strangely welcoming, I thought; I wasn’t used to greeters after midnight on a cold night in town. “Well, I have a problem to solve,” I offered as he and his colleague followed me into the store.

The two set about asking how they could help. Donny and Kearstan said there were no gas canisters to sell, but had I thought about using a water bottle? We perused the aisles, Donny pointing out the sturdiest ones. I bought a few, and Donny headed to drain the big ones; Kearstan started cutting another to fashion a makeshift funnel, something she said she learned from growing up around a farm.

Suddenly, the stranded motorist arrived. From his eyes, I’m sure it looked like a full-scale art project: the three of us laughing at the front counter, with cut up water bottles and tape. What he did see was that the creative and helpful young CVS employees had successfully created a funnel and usable make-shift gas canisters seemingly out of thin air—and ingenuity.

Off we went, grateful that Dan & Whit’s was open for gas. We got enough to start the car, returned to fill up again, and helped the traveler back on his way. He was here to meet Tuck students the next day, but I think he witnessed some of the finest entrepreneurs at work in the Upper Valley at the CVS that night.

— Tori Holt, Norwich

Dear Daybreak:

When I contemplated taking early retirement some years back, I imagined pursuing any number of possibilities.

Among these possibilities was to write VPR commentaries.

Since I was clueless as to how to pursue this particular goal, I sought out a veteran VPR commentator who also happened to be a gardening guru.

“What’s your thing?” the guru challenged me, immediately digging for dirt.

“I don’t have a thing,” I replied.

He shook his head sadly, “If you are going to write VPR commentaries, you definitely need a thing.”

I soon discovered that his question—and concern—would be a common one. In my blissful state of ignorance, I had never imagined that not having a ‘thing’ would be such a liability.

At first when people asked what I planned to do once I stopped working, I went through the usual checklist of favorite retiree pastimes. You know the list: travelling, taking classes, volunteering, exercising….