New on DVD

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tantly — sharing those things, and there’s a radiance about it that’s absolutely irresistible. “I know — stranger stranger in a strange land,” she sings, “Just keep holding onto my hand/ Look around it’s a world of wonders/ Earth is above us heaven is under.” It’s one of those love songs that feels a bit bigger than just romance, which is why it makes an interesting lead-in to the the whimsically toned “Secret Girl.”

“Secret girl, I see you,” sings Delmhorst. “I was a secret too/Walking down the shady side, 6th Avenue/ Secret girl, are you lonely/I was lonely too/Spice tea and a cigarette, keep the wall behind you.” This odd moment of seeing a reflection of herself in someone else is fueled by the preceding song’s wanderlust, and is reflected later in a cover of the Rickie Lee Jones song, “The Horses,” with the persona addressing the song to her daughter, ending with the lines, “When your mama was young I heard she was a real wild one.” We change, and we don’t change at all. We see pieces of who we used to be in strangers and the people we love. Everything radiates with beauty if you let yourself chase the light. Call it “love,” because that’s the only word we have that’s big enough to capture all of all that. “Lightning on the sea, flashing green,” sings Delmhorst, in “Don’t forget to see what can be/ Horses in the sky roll on by/Don’t you close your eyes,/Watch em fly, watch em fly.”

What holds this album together is Delmhorst’s vocal dexterity, and her ability to coax emotion and nuance from her lines, especially on very finely filed down songs such as

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The seventh season of the hit NBC series picks back up with Red (James Spader) post-abduction as the Task Force tries to find him before it’s too late.

“The Wretched”: A teenager struggling with his parents’ divorce (John-Paul Howard) connects with his next-door-neighbor (Zarah Mahler), who happens to be possessed by an evil witch.

“Valley of the Gods”: A quirky trillionaire (John Malkovich) develops a multilayered relationship with the man attempting to write his biography (Josh Hartnett). “Skyscraper.” There are always more layers of communication happening in Delmhorst’s vocal tone than is immediately apparent, a sort of entwined joy and ache that permeates everything, and energize her metaphors. In “Skyscraper” she sings, “Half of what is here is underneath the ground/Why believe only what you see?” Later, in “Flower of Forgiveness,” she sings that flower can be found “blooming by the side of the road.”

The end of the album finds the album’s persona working her way back home, which in some ways feels like a balance to the earlier imagery of chasing fireflies into the night. “On a clear day, I can see you from here/ Almost reach out and touch you, you seem so near/Some things are further than they appear.” There’s yearning in the song, but not desperation. There’s a sense of trust in the road to bring her home. By comparison, on the subsequent song, the Americana-rich “Bless Your Little Heart” reminds the listener that, “I know how you work, I know how you try/But it is easier than it seems.”

Who is she talking to? It’s not clear, and perhaps it doesn’t matter. The album ends with a sort of surrender, with “Call of the Dogs,” where she sings, “Leave the story you can’t shake/Leave your pile of old mistakes/You’ll find a new one you can make.” The song is filled with imagery of old armor that’s no longer needed and melting ice, and a reminder: “Just keep the wind behind you/Just let the sound remind you/Love knows just where to find you.”

The night sky is filled with stars and fireflies. Forgiveness sprouts from the earth at the roadside, and all of them, in the end, become a compass to guide the persona back to what matters.

Pillar”: A woman (Amanda Maddox) must save herself and her guide (Kaiwi Lyman) after a rock-climbing accident in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

“A White, White Day”: A police chief (Ingvar Sigurdsson) becomes obsessed with the idea that his recently deceased wife had cheated on him in their small Icelandic community. In Icelandic.

NEW ON DIGITAL HD AUG. 14

“Before the Fire”: A rising Hollywood actress (Jenna Lyng Adams) is forced to head back home amid a deadly pandemic and faces a sinister part of her past.

“Endless”: After a deadly car accident, a man stuck in limbo (Nicholas Hamilton) connects with his mourning girlfriend (Alexandra Shipp).

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whiskey, eggs and sugar. In 1922 in Chicago, a Walgreens employee took an old-fashioned malted milk and added scoops of ice cream. The new creation reportedly “boomed” in popularity nationwide throughout the 1930s.

At Root & Press, indulge yourself !

Agricultural news

Massachusetts Farmers Mar

ket Week was celebrated earlier this month. Gov. Charlie Baker in a declaration recognized the contributions farmers markets make to local agriculture and how they increase access to healthy food. Visit https:// massnrc.org for info about local market sites.

The Sustainable Business Network is leading a partnership with members of the Massachusetts Co

alition of Local Food and Farms

and the Massachusetts Depart

ment of Agricultural Resources

to celebrate summer bounty, with the introduction of the Eat Local MA App, available in iOS and Android. The app was designed to help consumers find nearby farms, farmers markets, food businesses and restaurants that have committed to sourcing local ingredients.

Eat Local MA is a statewide campaign promoting the benefits of sourcing food from within the local food system to encourage buying food grown and harvested by Massachusetts farmers and fishermen.

“The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is excited about the new Eat Local MA App that helps find fresh, healthy products grown and harvested by Massachusetts farmers and fishermen,” said John Lebeaux, MDAR commissioner. “Available in August and September, it’s an excellent way for residents to connect to and enjoy the bounty of MassGrown products during the height of the harvest season.”

The Massachusetts 2020 Tomato Contest annually held in early August did not take place this year “due to the uncertainty with COVID-19 and recommendations around social distancing.”

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources announced there would be a Tomato Contest next year. MDAR continues to be committed to promoting tomatoes, encouraging growers to share posts about their favorite tomato varieties, photos and tomato recipes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

It’s peak season for tomatoes. Enjoy!

Sweet special

“Dessert to Go” specials are available at Jenkins Inn, 7 West St., Barre.

Owners previously had stopped offering slices of pies, cakes and tarts, deciding recently to resume the promotion.

Desserts are sold by the slice, $6 each, and picked up from noon to 3 p.m. Sundays. Call (978) 355-6444 to pre-order, or send email to jenkinsinnbarre@gmail.com for more information. The business also offers half bottles of wine “to go” with desserts.

No plastic bags

FYI for Big Y supermarket shoppers:

Beginning Aug. 17, plastic grocery bags will no longer be available at checkout, according to an email from Big Y. Customers are reminded to bring reusable bags, or pay 10 cents for a paper bag.

If you have a tidbit for the column, call (508) 868-5282. See email to bhoulefood@gmail.com.