Welcome to “Dear Daybreak”, a new, occasional Daybreak column. It features short vignettes about life in the Upper Valley: an encounter, some wry exchange with a stranger or acquaintance, an odd animal sighting, the way the light looked the other evening… 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,

Nearly every day since May I go for a walk. Watching summer pass through my Upper Valley neighborhood has become an exciting, ever-changing landscape. There are only two rules to follow on my one-hour loop: Look and listen.

Today, the morning fog sat so low that the water droplets touched my arms and face as I walked. The dew in the fields clung to fine threads, revealing an alarming number of spider webs. There was no silence on my walk. Crickets sang their sweet end-of-summer melody and songbirds engaged in lively morning chats. A flock of red-eyed vireos playfully followed in front of me for a small section of a straight-away. Nearby, a little stream really, truly babbled, and I paused to help a baby toad safely cross the road.

I like to stop and look up in the trees. One day I got lucky and spotted a barred owl, another day I watched a porcupine descend from its perch, but more often, I see and hear the broad winged hawk families that have settled near where my walk turns around for home.

This summer, I’ve rescued many newts and spotted countless deer. Once, in the pouring rain, a blue heron landed on the road. It stood nearly as tall as I am, and its silent flight back to the sky felt like magic.

Now, I’m looking forward to the fall. I’ve been watching the milkweed pods, eagerly anticipating their opening. Which birds will migrate south, and which ones will stay for the winter? By taking the time to look and listen, each day becomes my motivation to step outside.

— Taylor Haynes, White River Junction

Dear Daybreak:

The hard-working staff at White River Family Eyecare stays open late on Thursdays, and it was close to the end of the day, almost 7 pm, when I finally wrapped up an eye appointment. The lone person at the front desk, Laura Ayotte, asked me if I wanted a copy of my prescription to take with me.

“Nah,” I said. “You’ll have it on record.”

“No problem,” she responded. “I’ll just need you to sign the pad acknowledgizing that we’re holding onto it for you.” She paused. “Acknowledgizing??!! I really need to go home for the day…”

“No, wait,” I said. “It’s a perfect word! It’s like, when you pretend to apologize for something you’re not sorry for, you’re acknowledgizing it.”

She didn’t miss a beat. “Right! ‘I’m sorry you feel that way,’” she said in a tone that wasn’t sorry in the least.

So there you have it. “To acknowledgize”, with Upper Valley roots. All credit to Laura.

— Rob Gurwitt

Dear Daybreak: