A Walk Into Town

New England is friendly in the winter. When you meet someone out of doors, they look at you and feel you must be somewhat quixotic to run errands in sub-freezing temperatures. They realize they too are out of doors running errands and are also quixotic, and you both talk in a jolly way about how cold it is and then go to your separate homes and think how nice it is to have neighbors. In summer, the teenagers are out of school and have nothing to do but shout to each other on Main Street, which annoys everyone, including the teenagers. People speed through town as quickly as possible - illegally quickly! - and might not mind if their cars knocked you down, even if you are not a teenager. But in the winter it is cold, and we can wear ugly coats and take care of each other.