![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/allegra1-771x933.jpeg)
Editor’s note: What a difference one year makes. On March 15, 2020, Gov. Chris Sununu announced he was closing schools and going to remote learning because of COVID-19. There were 13 cases. COVID-19 would take its first life eight days later. InDepthNH.org reported every milestone here.
By ALLEGRA BOVERMAN, InDepthNH.org
Recent warm weather raised my spirits and I hope yours, too. As I drove to photo assignments this week, I took note as usual of what is going on around me. What’s new, what catches my eye as I passed through a bunch of New Hampshire towns and villages.
Towns like Dublin, Walpole, Hollis and Milford. A car wash in Nashua.
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/runn-771x460.jpeg)
Snow is melting. There are lots of “open” signs. People are out riding their motorcycles. Others washing winter road salt off their cars.
Sap is running. Maple trees tapped.
I love watching ice melt on water, the lines, the textures.
I pass a llama who has stayed warm all winter. It looks almost ready for shearing.
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/llama-771x569.jpeg)
I take a few photos around my home, my gardens. I see flowers coming up. The critters who live here are awakening, too, as the season prepares to change. My husband and I both attract a bee or two to the honey in our tea as we quietly watch this renewal unfold before our eyes.
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cycle-771x576.jpeg)
The sun sets much later now allowing us to revel in the golden hour of a late afternoon. I silently rejoice at the welcoming chairs set out and precisely angled for visitors in the late afternoon sun.
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/flower-771x459.jpeg)
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/kitty-771x554.jpeg)
On my drive earlier, I thought about sharing these photos with you. They remind me of spring, of optimism and of the sense of life returning. I hope they will make you smile and help you feel it, too.
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/chairs-771x450.jpeg)
Feel free to share your photos of hope and the sense of recovery from a year like no other, COVID year. Send to nancywestnews@gmail.com. If sending from a phone, email them at the highest resolution/size that you can, and details about where you took the photo, your name and contact information.
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/carwash-771x486.jpeg)
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/paws-771x917.jpeg)
![](https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/frost-771x528.jpeg)
About me:
Allegra Boverman is a longtime photojournalist in New Hampshire. She takes a wide range of photos for news organizations and provides photo services of all kinds for businesses, organizations, families and individuals. You can see her work at allegraboverman.com