Dave Patten, left, and Eric Bastian, both of Claremont, N.H., clean rocks they collected from the Connecticut River boat launch in Cornish, N.H., on Monday, March 11, 2024. Bastian, who started collecting rocks with his father as a child and now gives them to his sister to make jewelry, said he loves to find interesting colors and marvels at how many years it takes to compress the layers of sediment. “People don’t notice nature anymore,” he said. (Valley News / Report For America - Alex Driehaus) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News / Report For America — Alex Driehaus