Muddy roads were a hot topic last month on the pages of the Valley News. And also on Valley News social media, over 90,000 people reacted to the photo of a Thetford Elementary student riding the family mule home from school.
Living in an area where the seasons and weather influence how we plan our days, the Upper Valley’s fifth season — mud season — gives me hope the COVID-19 pandemic is slightly losing its grip on our daily routine.
Looking back at work by Valley News photographers from April 2004, I am struck as I often am by the cyclical nature of daily journalism, reflecting on our seasonal lives.
While photographers document life in the area, it’s refreshing to see how the day-to-day is emphasized, a snapshot of a time from nearly 20 years ago.
Through staff photographers’ perspectives, we see the variety of what the Upper Valley is up to, whether it’s walking (with or without dogs), checking mail, practicing or competing in spring sports, construction or preparing for summer’s greener times. The 2004 photos reassure me we are in for calmer days without masking, distancing and charting numbers.
That said, hours before writing this I was amongst the over-50 crowd getting a booster shot. The pharmacy was pretty busy.
Darned pandemic.
