The truth is, she was ornery and stubborn, wouldn't listen to anybody, and selfish beyond selfish, and filthy, caked with mud and dust, and moody: you'd better watch it or she'd knock you flat.
-- Reena (That Zora paragraph 1)

Importance: Reena is talking about Zora. She has described how she felt about Zora the first few times she met the big cow. There was not much that she could say that was positive about the large, smelly and difficult to handle cow. She gives this description in the beginning of the story because over time her impression of Zora will change.

I wasn't sure what 'all Maine-y' meant, but whatever it was, they had decided it was undesirable.
-- Reena (Friend Withdrawal paragraph 3)

Importance: As the family tells their friends they are moving to Maine, they receive mixed reactions. Reena feels that her friends start to forget about her even before she leaves. One of them comments that she will become "Maine-y...