I am not a writer; I struggle with words. But these old eyes still take in much of the same natural beauty as they have for nearly 70 years of banging around the hills and fields of Plainfield. The problem is in the transcription from the visual emotion to words on paper. But I was fortunate to have learned from parents who valued the quiet pastoral beauty of the area in the post-war 1940s — my mother a prolific artist capturing the rural beauty in her work and my dad adding to it with his plow and harrows. I take more after my dad’s style of landscape painting, while, fortunately, other members of my family are able to put pen or brush to paper evoking our sense of “place.”

But with less off-farm distractions during these “shelter at home” times, I find myself registering more acutely the simple images of spring unaffected by COVID-19 and remember how fortunate we are in the Upper Valley to have open space in which to “distance” ourselves.

My neighbor and friend, Steve Taylor, has an evolving list of 100 things to experience in New Hampshire, all very steeped in sensory stimulation. Well, until travel and congregating resumes, here’s my list of 20 images most of us can experience nearby and either internalize or artistically capture as our skills allow.

■The long shadows from early morning or late evening sun — crisp blue tones in the morning and soft golden ones in the afternoon.

■ Clouds in a blue sky casting shadows on Mt. Ascutney’s shoulders.

■Hilltop views west to the still white ski slopes of Killington.

■The shrill of peepers from the swamp on the first warm spring evening.

■The careening descent of ducks or geese landing on water or a cornfield.

■The earthy smell of newly turned soil, or better yet, the spreading of manure.

■The reds and yellows on the hills of flowering red maples and popples — excuse me, poplars.

■ Last dirty pile of snow on the north side of the house.

■ The spikes of daffodils, lilies, peonies and hostas rushing out of the ground to unfurl and capture enough energy to do it all over again next year.

■ The first shad bush to flower chronicling the advent of black flies.

■ The mix of April popcorn snow with a field of emerald green winter rye.

■ The gently dipping of wings of soaring bald eagles, red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures.

■ The juxtaposition of a full bucket of wood ashes beside the brilliant doorstep daffodils.

■ Bees working the first flowering Jill-over-the ground on the south side of the house.

■ The promise of plump apple and blueberry buds.

■ The shimmer of a full moon at dawn on the Connecticut River.

■ The welcoming first calls of red-winged blackbirds and phoebes.

■ Winter-tired deer grazing on south facing slopes.

■ The cautious ambling of a red fox at the edge of the field.

■ Mist rising from the folds of the hills after a warm spring shower.

Paul Franklin owns and operates Riverview Farm in Plainfield with his wife, Nancy, and daughter Amy.