Of Cartoons, Cornish and CSAs
Hazel-Dawn Dumpert on Harry Bliss & Stella Menkov in praise of local produce
Here’s what happened. Back at the beginning of April, we published “How We Got Through,” a group piece about just that, the ways in which our contributors found the strength to weather our difficult year. It felt like a culmination of sorts, but then, for us, that strength gave out. After pulling our publication through a year unlike any other—with the help of each other, our subjects and you, our readers—we simply needed to stop and rest, wait out that last push like everybody else. Now, just like everybody else, we are feeling our way back, hopefully, happily. We kick things off with an appropriately fresh piece, from 17-year-old Stella Menkov, who discovers the joy that is seasonal local produce, and passes it on by feeding her family. And, I break free from the square on the screen and drive out to Cornish, NH, to find the flow with New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. —Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
Bliss in Cornish
There is just something about Cornish. It’s there in the stillness, the roll of the landscape and how it catches a glow more softly, gently, than in the darkly rocky spots that mark much of the Granite State. Driving south on 12A, I feel it so strongly that when I arrive at the home of Harry Bliss and find the artist and New Yorker cartoonist on a deck that gives out to a spectacular, golden view, the answer to my first question seems so obvious, I feel a little dumb asking.
“Why Cornish?”
Summer Days and CSAs
Last summer, my mom and I drove to Edgewater farm stand every Wednesday to pick up our CSA. I would don my mask to grab a box and a weekly newsletter while my mom went shopping for extra produce, milk, and fresh mozzarella. Usually there was a pint of berries nestled on top of the vegetables; in the car during the drive home, I pounced on them, and the mellow taste of fresh, in-season blueberries (completely unlike their sour, plastic-packaged winter cousins) mingled with the scent of tangerine hand sanitizer and the mouse that had died somewhere in our car. (read more)
Calendar
WEEKLY BLACK LIVES MATTER VIGILS:
Mondays in Grantham, NH, 4:30-5:30pm, across from the Grantham Post Office
Mondays in Hanover, NH, 5-5:30pm, on the green
Tuesdays in Lebanon, NH, 5-5:30pm, Colburn Park across from the Lebanon Opera House
Wednesdays in Meriden, NH, 5-5:30pm, Rte. 120 and Main St. intersection
Wednesdays in Windsor, VT, 6-6:30pm, Old South Church
Thursdays in Canaan, NH, 5-5:30pm, sidewalks on Route 4 & 118
Fridays in Claremont, NH, 5-6pm, Broad Street Park
Fridays in Springfield, VT, 5-6pm, 6 Main St.
For more opportunities to engage, see the SURJ Upper Valley Facebook page.
May 22nd - June 6th
Sing & Play Festival - Upper Valley Music Center
Thursday, May 27th - 4:45pm
Poetry & Prose: Kiran Desai - Dartmouth [virtual]
Friday, May 28th - 4pm
Memorial Day Oyster Extravaganza - Harpoon Brewery
Friday, May 28th - 7pm
Thetford Chamber Singers: The Return of Light - virtual
Saturday, May 29th - 8am
Pie and Bake Sale benefit for Bradford Teen Center - Boch Park
Saturday, May 29th - 10am
Spring Book Sale - Thetford Library
Saturday, May 29th - 1pm
Artisans Park Maker's Market - Artisans Park in Windsor, VT
Saturday, May 29th - 8:30pm
Outdoor Screening: Stray - Lyman Park
Sunday, May 30th - 2pm
Voices of Black Women in Vermont - Rutland Area NAACP [virtual]
Tuesday, June 1st - 6pm
Liz and Dan Faiella - Lebanon Opera House [virtual]
Wednesday, June 2nd - 3pm
Virtual Space for Dialogue Gallery Talk: "THE BUTT OF THE JOKE" - The Hood Museum [virtual]
Wednesday, June 2nd - 7pm
Béla Fleck and The Flecktones - Lebanon Opera House [virtual]
Friday, June 4th - 5pm
First Friday - White River Junction, VT
Saturday, June 5th - 10am
National Trails Day - VINS
To see more events, visit our full calendar.
If you have an event you’d like to see added, please email: calendar@junctionmagazine.com
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