Come north through the notches and the weather is often apt to change. The trees are different. The soils are different. The people are different and so are their accents, tending to become sharper the further north you go. Here you can still do business on a handshake.
People leave their keys in their cars and their front doors unlocked.
Car thefts are unusual enough to make the front page. A burglary in an occupied dwelling is virtually unheard of. The North Country is more like a chunk of Labrador, or maybe Alaska, than the rest of New England. The region is more than 90 percent forested. Ducks and geese make their seasonal pilgrimages along the Connecticut River flyway.