Guest Photographer

This series of images were taken by local photographer Tiido Tennelo. Tennelo's photography is well known around the valley, and appears on a number of local websites.

Abbot Road & Ames Hill

I like the contrast between the colorful barn, sided with pieces of scrap metal, and the dull winter countryside. This was taken on a gray, overcast day, so when I processed the photo on my computer I boosted the saturation to enhance the colors on the building.
It's difficult to see clearly, but the end of the barn seems to have collapsed, leaving the little cupola to appear almost suspended out over nothingness.

This photo appeared in the print edition of The Deerfield Valley News, but I thought it was too good not to include here on iSquangle, too.

Somewhere in Marlboro

Brattleboro Churches

I like the blue face on the clock - it seems like a whimsical splash of color on the otherwise traditional white church.

A trio of Gothic windows

The style of this arch is mirrored in the wndow

Snow

The entrance of the Old Red Mill in Wilmington, after a recent snowfall

Snowmobile Rescue

These photos are from a recent snowmobile rescue in Somerset. As snowmobiling continues to gain popularity, local rescue units are called to more off-road winter accidents every year. Crowded trails, inexperienced riders, sudden changes in weather and trail conditions, and a lack of familiarity with the area, may be contributing factors to the increase in snowmobiling accidents. The snowmobile club in the tiny town of Woodford, just to the south and west of Somerset, is the largest such club in the country.

This accident occured on the Glastonbury road, a remote area of an already remote part of the Green Mountain National Forest.

The Wilmington Fire Rescue Sled Team was called in to remove the patient from the scene of the accident to the ambulance waiting on the main Somerset road. Fire rescue EMTs provide patient evaluation and care at the scene.

The sled team gets ready to head out on the trail, with rescue litter in tow.

The rescue litter is covered to protect the patient from snow and cold wind.

Returing from the scene of the accident, patient in tow.

Fire rescue personnel prepare to move the patient to the ambulance for tranpsort to the local hospital.

Searsburg Dam and Power Station

Many visitors to the valley, at least those who venture west of the light in Wilmington, have seen this pipeline snaking along the side of the mountains and wondered what it is and what runs through it. There may even be a few locals who aren't quite sure what the mysterious pipleline carries. Speculation on the contents of the pipeline runs from the town's drinking water to a fuel supply line.

The pipeline, or penstock, carries water used to operate a small hydroelectric station on the Wilmington/Searsburg town line. This type of system, in which the dam and generation facility are separately located, is known as a "divided fall facility."

The water is concentrated at small reservoir in Searsburg, located on the road to Somerset Reservoir.

Searsburg Reservoir and Dam

Adjacent to the dam is a small pump house that directs water into the penstock when the hydroelectric station is running.

Pump house

The system was originally built in the 1920s. The penstock is constructed of wood staves bound by metal hoops. The assembly is supported in a wooden cradle that rests on a bed of gravel. The penstock is 8-feet in diameter, and stretches 3.5 miles from the reservoir to its terminus above the power plant.

View showing staves, hoops, and cradle.

A bridge allows access to both sides of the penstock for maintenance

The penstock ends at a surge tank above the generation facility - visible from Route 9, near the Wilmington town line. The surge tank was new technology at the time the station was built. The tank acts like a shock absorber - equalizing the force of the incoming water and protecting the system from potential damage when the turbine gates were closed rapidly. A much larger surge tank is located at nearby Hariman Station.

The Searsburg Station is at the bottom of the photo. Above the station is the "surge tank."

Searsburg station is a 5 mega-watt facility, completed in 1922. When it was built, the facility was the largest fully-automated plant in the United States. It could be operated without an attendant thanks to a time clock that opened the turbine at a certain time, and shut itself down at a predetermined limit. It also was designed to operate based on water height at the reservoir, using an electric float switch.

Jacksonville Pond Dam

Jacksonville Pond Dam and Reed Hill Bridge.

The dam's stonework is visible behind the water.

Ice behind the water breaks the flow and creates interesting patterns.

What would Freud say?

Bennington Battle Monument, Bennington VT

iSquangle took a short trip to the Bennington Battle Monument Friday afternoon, just as the snow started falling. The 306-foot tall obelisk commemorates the Battle of Bennington, which actually took place across the border in New York on August 17, 1777.

"They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" -Gen. John Stark.

General John Stark, with 1,400 New Hampshire volunteers as well as volunteers gathered in Vermont towns along what is now known as the Molly Stark Trail (VT Route 9), sucessfully defeated two detachments of British General John Burgoyne's army. The British goal was a store of weapons and supplies kept at the site of the monument.

A study in contrast

A stone wall meanders over a hill in Wilmington

Stone wall in Wilmington

I like the way snow looks on stone walls. My eye is drawn to the contrast between the snow and the stone. In the top picture, the snow looks almost like it was drizzled over the stones like confectioner's glaze. In the bottom photograph, the snow highlights the shapes of the rocks.
For the contemplative viewer, these scenes offer a chance to muse about other contrasts, beyond light and dark.

Moon over Dover

Not quite full. 31 January 2007

I'm notorious for taking photographs of the moon. It's a compulsion. A sickness. People laugh at me. I just can't help myself.

Sentry

A water-worn log protrudes from the ice on Harriman Reservoir

Power of the past

Rivets adorn the boiler of a turn-of-the-century steam engine.

Route 100 south, Wilmington.

Pssst! That guy over there is taking our picture!

Dix Road, Wilmington

Ice trails on glass

Frost on the windshield

SNOW!

The Red Mill, Wilmington.

Snow finally fell on the valley after one the longest snow droughts in recent memory. The Friday evening "storm" dropped three to four inches on the area.

Skiers and snowmobilers will, no doubt, be relieved at the return to more seasonable weather.

Snow clings to a windowsill

Drift

Snow fills the hollow of a tree.

More photos from this week's ice storm

This week's ice storm wreaked havoc on the area, causing hardship for many local residents left without power for days. But few could deny a sense of awe when standing in the middle of a landscape transformed into a crystaline wonderland.

Allard Road, Whitingham

Ice coated branch illuminated by the sun. Allard Road

Wilmington Cross Road, Whitingham

State highway department clearing Route 100 of debris. Whitingham

Branches laden with ice along Route 100 in Wilmington.

Breaking news: Twin Valley budget passes

Wilmington and Whitingham voters passed the Twin Valley budget of $5,193,341 by wide margin Wednesday evening. Unofficial results for Wilmington: 110 in favor, 76 opposed. In Whitingham, 76 voters approved the budget, and 43 were opposed.
The budget vote was the first held under an ammendment to the joint contract approved last year that required an Australian ballot.

Valley struggles to recover from ice storm

Jacksonville, Halifax, and surrounding areas are still struggling to clear roads and regain electrical service after an ice storm hit the area Monday night. As temperatures dipped below zero early Wednesday morning, some areas had been without power since about 10 pm Monday evening.

Barbed wire on Wilmington Cross Road.

While utility companies work to clear power and phone lines of tree limbs, state and local road crews are scrambling to clear roadways of debris from downed trees.

Trees strain under the weight of the ice on Route 100 Wednesday morning.

By Tuesday evening, 300 to 400 homes were still without power. During the late night and early morning hours, power was regained, lost, and regained again in several areas in the valley.

Apple tree on Wilmington Cross Road.

Whitingham maintained the municipal center in Jacksonville as a shelter throughout the night, but town clerk Almira Aekus says no one sought refuge. Anyone who needs emergency assistance or shelter can call the Red Cross at (800)288-3554 (802) 442-9458, or call their local fire department for more information.

Ice Storm

It is a drippy, dreary, and icy Martin Luther King Day in the Deerfield Valley. When I went to leave for work I was greeted by
a car completely encased in ice. But, with a little defrosting and a lot of scraping, I managed to slither up Route 100 to get to work.

As the day progresses, we're being taunted by flickering lights - a warning that we probably will, eventually, lose electrical power.

The trees, bushes, and power lines are laden with wet, heavy ice.