Small-town life is kinda new for me, even after living here for a year. First I had to get used to the idea that anything I say in a restaurant or coffee shop would most likely be heard by the second-cousin of the husband of somebody I know from work.

I also had to get used to being one of the few people in town who haven’t lived here since the signing of the constitution.

But now I’m becoming an expert at acknowledging and even greeting people I pass on the sidewalk. Believe it or not, people here expect you to make eye contact, smile, and say “good evening” (or “good morning,” as the case may be) as you pass them. This is a far cry from walking swiftly past and pretending you’re the only one on the sidewalk, which is pro forma in other places I’ve lived (not counting Mequon, where there were no sidewalks on which to pass other people).

This evening, as I walked to and from the coffee shop, I got to practice this evening greeting not once, not twice, but three times. And I kind of liked it. All of a sudden I started picturing myself actually knowing these people I was passing, or other people like them. I imagined having neighbors that I actually know and do stuff with.

Some day.