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.

Want to submit a Dear Daybreak item? Just go here!

Dear Daybreak:

March

what remains of March’s full moon is a sliver of hope in the west two points of the crescent looking skyward

March is like its name making us put one foot in front of the other legs lifted high you just don’t hear the band

in this murky month our roads, like the Roman Empire disintegrate long rivers of mud ruts carve out their own desperate direction they fish tail you along on some ravenous ride side saddle on a bucking bronco

so we stay in our huddles for days at a time reading aloud or singing lullabies to the buried frost just to hear our own voice to confirm we are still here

the earth’s freeze and thaw melting the wrap of winter coursing the sun through our pulsing veins paving a road of recovery right into spring

— Rose Loving, Tunbridge

Dear Daybreak:

I was super excited to discover this bench at the bus stop by the Hanover Coop on Park Street!

I don't know who made it, but would love to know and thank them. I think it is wonderful. And looks fantastic!

They have been doing this around Burlington (though I have to say this bench looks better ;). I had recently started collecting projects that people have done across the states to either improve the transit experience or call attention to the needs of transit riders, which we could maybe do in May around the Curb Your Car day. Anyway, I just want people to appreciate this bench and consider a concerted effort to build benches for bus stops in the Upper Valley.

— Jennie Chamberlain, Hanover