Summary

The story begins with Miss Adela Strangeworth walking to the grocery store. She takes in the beautiful day, happy to have a sunny afternoon after the rain the night before. She reflects on her town, and the narrator explains that Miss Strangeworth takes pride in telling tourists that she has never spent a day anywhere else. Her grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street, where Miss Strangeworth lives, and she “sometimes found herself thinking that the town belonged to her” (1). Miss Strangeworth thinks about the construction of the new post office and how they wanted to erect a statue of Ethan Allen in front of it. She would often tell people that they should have erected a statue of her grandfather instead, for without him there would not be a town at all.

The narrator remarks that despite numerous requests from tourists...