practice.

Windsor hitter Alex Drost takes his swings in the batter's cage during baseball practice at Windsor High School in Windsor, VT. With an early Spring this year, Upper Valley high school baseball teams are practicing outdoors earlier than usual.

This image is © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

no country for old men.

last tuesday i had the privilege of hanging out with a bunch of country musicians. every week since 1958 Don MacLeay and Norm St. Aubin have held a country jam in St. Aubin's kitchen. they use to hold the jam sessions on thursdays, but recently moved it to tuesdays to accomodate another musician's schedule. there is a lot of history and talent among this crew. Curt Jensen, now Reverend Curt Jensen, is in the rockabilly hall of fame. Norm St. Aubin used to be in Country Express, a local country band. and Don MacLeay is the only surviving member of Woodie & the Ramblers, a local country band that played in just about every hall in the upper valley in the 1950's and 1960's. MacLeay told me Woodie's shows were rowdy. they used to push each other on stage and broke their instruments once in a while. MacLeay even showed me an old letter from the band's insurance company, stating their coverage was denied because of too many claims for damaged instruments and equipment. but enough about the history, the musicians finish each jam session with a chocolate dessert of some sort with milk. it was brownies when i visited.

These images are © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

shamrock shuffle. lebanon, nh.

These images are © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

Last week I photographed the Hanover girls hockey team through the state playoffs, which in New Hampshire consists of the semi-finals and finals. These pictures are from a practice, the semi-finals in Concord, NH, and the finals in Manchester, NH.

These images are © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

dartmouth basketball, strobed and in black & white.

These images are © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

"if we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going."

Nelson Pacheco, right, his wife, Christine, left, and son, Matthew, 2, of Newbury, N.H. Nelson Pacheco is originally from Puerto Rico and moved to the Upper Valley from Jacksonville, FL, with his wife two years ago to move closer to Christine's family. This picture is part of a new column at the Valley News highlighting people who recently moved to the Upper Valley.

This image is © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

"the only place where democracy comes before work is in the dictionary."

Town Meetings. Town Meetings are a tradition in Vermont that dates back to the pre-Revolutionary era. In March, people from each small town in Vermont take the morning off from work to discuss and vote on budgetary issues.

i. Elisabeth Kulakowski sits with her daughters Elsa, 2, back right, and Ady, 3, front, during Corinth's Town Meeting at Town Hall.

ii. Mary Nadeau, of Hartford, leaves the booth after voting at Hartford High School.

iii. Volunteer Carol Kendall of Hartford inspects empty voting booths at Hartford High School.

These images are © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

"we can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it."

Grantham, NH.

boys hockey, manchester at hanover.

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"dig where the gold is… unless you just need some exercise."

Ode to Patrick "P-Fal" Fallon.

Hannah Kearney won the gold medal for mogul skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. She returned home to Norwich, VT, where there was a homecoming parade through her hometown and nearby Hanover, NH.

These images are © 2010 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.