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:
Grateful to walk along Buzzell Bridge Road & the East Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River up to the Union Village Dam—all on federal land.
— Barbara Woodard, Thetford Center
Dear Daybreak:
I damn near skied right over a moose once the smooth white snow mound rising like yeasted bread birthing a tall brown creature that stretched and shrugged and trotted off as if just remembering a missed appointment which was not my first or last reminder of how the ground itself may have a mind of its own sometimes startling or treacherous as a friend discovered watching the rest of his life swell up before him when told he would not live much longer a great wild wandering beast slipping away
— “Moose” by Danny Dover, Bethel
Dear Daybreak:
Wanting to so something concrete and helpful on November 5th, I asked a well-informed, New Hampshire-based friend, “How can I help the most?” She said it would be very helpful if I would train and volunteer as a poll observer in New Hampshire. So I did just that, and was assigned to work at the polls in Lyme from 2 pm until the final tally was posted.
As the day approached and I reviewed the hefty amount of information imparted to us in training – about new state laws and affidavits and other things related to voter access – I realized I was a bit apprehensive. What had I signed up for? I was supposed to introduce myself to the Moderator and the Supervisors of the Checklist and the Town Clerk, among others. I was supposed to be polite and non-partisan in my behavior. I was supposed to stay six feet away from this and five fee away from that. Would they be welcoming to poll observers? Would there be tension? Would they resent our questions when they came up? I just had no idea what to expect.
Well, my worries were for naught. I could not have imagined a more positive experience and when it was over I realized what I should have known all along: I should have known that the Moderator would not only lack resentment, but that he would bend over backwards to get us the information we needed – even calling the Secretary of State’s office to clarify a question. I should have known that the Town Clerk and all the women verifying the mail-in ballots would be gracious and completely transparent. I should have known that the Supervisors of the Checklist would be happy to discuss how many people showed up for same-day registration, or that the folks who made dinner for the ballot counters would be happy to share the extra food with us poll observers.
In one classic Upper Valley scenario, a young woman had forgotten to sign her absentee ballot and we were about to try to contact her when her mother showed up to vote – and, of course, two of us knew her personally. We explained the problem and she said she would let her daughter know.
In this age of deep division and political polarization, even my interactions with the poll observer for the other party were positive. In the hours that we spent together, we learned that we have a friend in common, that our sons went to school together and that she looks much younger than her age!
Truly, it was one of those days that I felt deeply grateful for where I live. And I was reminded that many more things unite us than separate us.
— Robin Osborne, Thetford